Kura Oncology, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of precision medicines for oncology, announced it has entered into a collaboration agreement with Foundation Medicine to support patient enrollment for Kura’s clinical program for tipifarnib in patients with relapsed and/or refractory HRAS mutant squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN).
“We’re excited to collaborate with Foundation Medicine, a leader and innovator in precision medicine, molecular information and comprehensive genomic profiling, as part of our strategy to reach a broader population of patients with high unmet medical need,” said Troy Wilson, Ph.D., J.D., President and CEO of Kura Oncology. “Our preliminary data suggests tipifarnib has activity in patients with HRAS mutant squamous cell head and neck cancer, who have failed other treatment options, and we believe Foundation Medicine’s unique expertise and outreach to physicians treating SCCHN patients, in particular, in the community treatment setting fit well with our company’s objectives and values.”
Through this collaboration, Foundation Medicine’s SmartTrials Precision Enrollment program will contact physicians treating individuals across the U.S. diagnosed with SCCHN whose tumors harbor HRAS mutations as detected in the course of routine clinical care. The treating physicians will be contacted and informed of Kura’s ongoing Phase 2 study of tipifarnib, including relevant details about the trial, including trial patient characteristics and investigational centers, to assist the physician in evaluating tipifarnib as a potential treatment option.
Tipifarnib is an inhibitor of farnesylation, a key cell signaling process implicated in cancer initiation and development, and is under investigation in multiple ongoing clinical trials. Tipifarnib has demonstrated encouraging preclinical and clinical activity, including durable partial responses, in an ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with HRAS mutant SCCHN.
Filed Under: Drug Discovery
