• 11 Mar 2024
• Admin
• News Article

Kura Oncology Begins Human Trial for KO-2806 and Cabozantinib Combo

Overview

Kura Oncology Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to realising the promise of precision medicines for the treatment of cancer, has announced dosing of the first patient with KO-2806, a next-generation farnesyl transferase inhibitor (FTI), in combination with the tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) cabozantinib in the clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) cohort of the phase 1 portion of the FIT-001 clinical trial.

Kura Oncology on Trial

“Dosing of the first patient in combination in our phase 1 clinical trial of KO-2806 marks a significant milestone for our next-generation FTI program,” said Stephen Dale, CMO of Kura Oncology. “This innovative, first-in-human trial builds upon our leadership position in the development of FTIs as well as a growing body of preclinical data demonstrating that combining KO-2806 with certain tyrosine kinase inhibitors, including cabozantinib, has the potential to address mechanisms of innate and adaptive resistance of targeted therapies, while driving tumor regressions and enhancing both duration and depth of antitumor response in preclinical models of ccRCC. With this achievement, we are now one step closer to realizing our vision for broad application of KO-2806 as an ideal combination partner to drive enhanced antitumor activity and address mechanisms of innate and adaptive resistance to targeted therapies.”

About KO-2806

KO-2806 is a next-generation inhibitor of farnesyl transferase designed to improve upon the potency, pharmacokinetic and physicochemical properties of earlier FTI drug candidates.

About FIT-001

• FIT-001 is a first-in-human, multicenter, open-label study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and preliminary antitumor activity of KO-2806 when administered as monotherapy and in combination with targeted therapies. 
• Concurrent with the monotherapy dose escalation, Kura is evaluating KO-2806 in dose-escalation combination cohorts with other targeted therapies, beginning with cabozantinib in ccRCC. 
• The Company expects to begin dosing in combination with adagrasib in KRASG12C-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) next quarter.

Kura Oncology Pipeline

• Kura Oncology’s pipeline consists of small molecule drug candidates that target cancer signaling pathways. 
• Ziftomenib is a once-daily, oral drug candidate targeting the menin-KMT2A protein-protein interaction for the treatment of genetically defined AML patients with high unmet need. 
• Kura is currently enrolling patients in a Phase 2 registration-directed trial of ziftomenib in NPM1-m R/R AML (KOMET-001). The company is also conducting a series of studies to evaluate ziftomenib in combination with current standards of care, beginning with ven/aza and 7+3 in NPM1-m and KMT2A-r newly diagnosed and R/R AML (KOMET-007) and with the FLT3 inhibitor gilteritinib, FLAG-IDA or LDAC in NPM1-m and KMT2A-r R/R AML (KOMET-008). 
• Tipifarnib, a potent and selective FTI, is currently in a Phase 1/2 trial in combination with alpelisib for patients with PIK3CA-dependent HNSCC (KURRENT-HN). 
• Kura is also evaluating KO-2806, a next-generation FTI, in a phase 1 dose-escalation trial as a monotherapy and in combination with cabozantinib in ccRCC and with adagrasib in KRASG12C-mutated NSCLC (FIT-001).