Curis Doses First Patient In Phase 1 Trial Evaluating CA-4948 - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Biotechnology company Curis, Inc. (CRIS) announced Tuesday that the first patient has been dosed in its Phase 1 trial evaluating CA-4948, a novel, small molecule IRAK4 kinase inhibitor, in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) with spliceosome mutations, such as SF3B1 and U2AF1, that drive expression of the long isoform of IRAK4 (IRAK4-L).

IRAK4 plays an essential role in the toll-like receptor (TLR) and interleukin-1 receptor (IL-1R) signaling pathways, and these pathways are frequently dysregulated in patients with AML and MDS.

The Phase 1 trial is an open-label, dose escalation study designed to evaluate the safety, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and clinical activity of CA-4948 in patients with AML and high-risk MDS.

The primary objective of the study is to determine the maximum tolerated dose and recommended Phase 2 dose of CA-4948 based on safety and tolerability, dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs), and pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic findings.

A minimum of three patients will be enrolled at each dose level, starting with 200 mg twice-daily (BID), based on its preclinical models. Each treatment cycle will be 28 days in length and repeated in the absence of toxicity. Initial data from the study is expected in the fourth quarter of 2020.