Poseida Therapeutics Provides Updates and Financial Results for the First Quarter of 2024

On May 14, 2024 Poseida Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: PSTX), a clinical-stage allogeneic cell therapy and genetic medicines company advancing differentiated non-viral treatments for patients with cancer and rare diseases, reported updates and financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024 (Press release, Poseida Therapeutics, MAY 14, 2024, View Source [SID1234643235]).

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"We see 2024 as a breakout year for Poseida as we make great strides across our cell therapy and genetic medicine programs and continue to cultivate and expand high value collaborations that highlight Poseida’s role as the partner of choice in allogeneic CAR-T," said Kristin Yarema, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Poseida Therapeutics. "The promising updates from our BCMA program at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) 2024 reinforce our belief that P-BCMA-ALLO1 has the potential to treat a broad range of patients with multiple myeloma, including those who are BCMA-therapy naïve and those who have relapsed or are refractory to BCMA-targeted therapies such as autologous CAR-T or T-cell engaging bispecifics. We continue to advance our MUC1-C solid tumor and CD19CD20 B-cell malignancy programs and are on track to provide updates across our wholly owned and Roche-partnered CAR-T programs in the second half of 2024."

"The proprietary and powerful genetic engineering toolkit that we have used ex vivo to deliver our allogeneic CAR-T programs demonstrates compelling potential for the development of in vivo genetic medicines. Moving forward, we are focusing our gene therapy pipeline on fully nonviral approaches, highlighted by our lead gene editing and gene insertion programs, P-KLKB1-101 and P-FVIII-101. New preclinical data supporting the advancement of both programs was recently presented at the ASGCT (Free ASGCT Whitepaper) annual meeting, further confirming their potential to address significant unmet patient need."

Recent Accomplishments

Cell therapy

Announced strategic research collaboration and license agreement with Astellas’ wholly owned subsidiary, Xyphos Biosciences, to develop novel cell therapies for solid tumors. The collaboration will utilize Poseida’s proprietary allogeneic CAR-T platform with Xyphos’ ACCEL technology to create one Poseida-developed CAR-T construct to form the basis of two convertibleCAR product candidates in areas beyond Poseida’s core pipeline focus. Under the research agreement, Poseida is receiving $50 million upfront plus potential development and sales milestones and contingency payments of up to $550 million in total and will be reimbursed for costs incurred as part of the research agreement. Poseida is eligible for up to low double digit tiered royalties as a percentage of net sales. This new collaboration expands the strategic relationship between the companies, which began in 2023 with Astellas’ $25 million equity investment in Poseida and concurrent one-time $25 million payment for a right of exclusive negotiation and first refusal to license Poseida’s P-MUC1C-ALLO1 program also targeting solid tumors.

Presented new allogeneic CAR-T data at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting from the Company’s Phase 1 study of P-BCMA-ALLO1 as well as a comparison of lymphodepletion needs in hematologic vs. solid tumor settings.


The P-BCMA-ALLO1 data presented at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) 2024 builds on the Company’s earlier ASH (Free ASH Whitepaper) 2023 data, which demonstrated a 100% overall response rate in patients who had not been previously treated with a BCMA-targeted therapy who received adequate lymphodepletion. This new data from a subset of patients in the ongoing Phase 1 study showed that three of five (60%) patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) who had progressed following one or more prior BCMA-targeted therapies achieved clinical responses with P-BCMA-ALLO1. Overall, P-BCMA-ALLO1 was well tolerated, and findings suggest that P-BCMA-ALLO1 could be an appropriate treatment for a broad range of patients with multiple myeloma, including BCMA-naïve patients and those with relapsed/refractory disease whose cancer progressed following prior BCMA-targeted therapy.

Following efforts to optimize its allogeneic CAR-T therapies, Poseida presented new data underscoring the need for higher lymphodepletion chemotherapy doses when treating solid tumors vs. hematologic malignancies. Drawing from these insights, the Company is exploring higher lymphodepletion regimens in its Phase 1 clinical trial of P-MUC1C-ALLO1 for solid tumors.
P-BCMA-ALLO1 granted Orphan Drug Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of multiple myeloma, highlighting the potential of TSCM-rich allogeneic CAR-T therapies to offer the optimal combination of clinical results, on-demand availability, and high-volume production, while supporting broad access to off-the-shelf allogeneic CAR-T therapies.

Advanced Roche partnership including completion of certain program-related development milestones that resulted in the receipt of a $30 million payment in the first quarter of 2024 and the anticipated receipt of an additional $15 million milestone payment in May 2024. Looking forward, Poseida will continue to have responsibility for the expanded Phase 1 trial of P-BCMA-ALLO1 and the related operational activities, for which Roche will provide reimbursement.

Genetic medicine

Poseida’s gene therapy platform technologies, which are based in part on experience developing the Company’s allogeneic CAR-T platform, demonstrate significant potential to support the development of in vivo genetic medicines. The Company highlighted these scientific advancements and its pipeline strategy during a virtual Gene Therapy R&D Day, including its fully non-viral approach to genetic medicine employing differentiated gene delivery, gene editing and gene insertion technology.


The key advantages of Poseida’s fully non-viral approach include low immunogenicity, lower oncogenic risks, integrated and stable expression, personalized titratable dosing, and a favorable cost of goods compared to viral gene therapies.

Poseida is focused on advancing its two fully non-viral lead programs in rare disease with significant unmet patient need: P-KLKB1-101 for Hereditary Angioedema (HAE), which is the Company’s first in vivo gene editing program using Cas-CLOVER, and P-FVIII-101, which is the Company’s gene insertion program for the treatment of Hemophilia A.

Poseida’s hybrid programs remain promising for applications where high levels of editing in liver cells are required and Poseida may opportunistically consider partnering transactions.
Presented multiple presentations at the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy 27th Annual Meeting (ASGCT) (Free ASGCT Whitepaper) featuring lead genetic medicine approaches, P-KLKB1-101 and P-FVIII-101.


P-KLKB1-101 interim data in a non-human-primate model showed that the Cas-CLOVER nuclease formulation was well tolerated and yielded levels of editing approaching therapeutic efficacy in early read-out doses. Studies in human cells and rodent models show high fidelity and high efficiency KLKB1 editing within a target range for correction of HAE. P-KLKB1-101 demonstrated a highly controlled dose-dependent reduction in kallikrein protein and confirmatory studies revealed minimal off-target editing.

P-FVIII-101 preclinical data support advancing to non-human primate studies based on sustained FVIII expression over 13 months from a single dose, along with data supporting mitigated immunogenicity and ability to fine tune FVIII expression levels via repeat dosing and/or Poseida’s proprietary modulator switch.

Additional data describing the Company’s advancements in lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology, intracellular targeting agents and nuclease fidelity.
Anticipated Milestones


P-BCMA-ALLO1 in RRMM: clinical update planned for the second half of 2024 subject to coordination with Roche.

P-MUC1C-ALLO1 in solid tumors: clinical update planned for the second half of 2024.

P-CD19CD20-ALLO1 in B-cell malignancies: interim data update anticipated in the second half of 2024 subject to coordination with Roche.

Other Operational Updates

Leadership Updates

Poseida appointed Syed Rizvi, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer in April 2024. Dr. Rizvi is a seasoned executive with over 20 years of experience across all stages of drug development, including clinical strategy, execution, and commercialization. He most recently served as Chief Medical Officer of Caribou Biosciences, where he was responsible for overall strategy and execution of all clinical development programs, and also held leadership positions at Chimeric Therapeutics, Legend Biotech, and Celgene.

Financial Results for the First Quarter 2024

Revenues

Revenues were $28.1 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024, compared to $10.3 million for the same period in 2023. The increase was primarily due to revenue recognized from the Astellas strategic investment and an increase in Roche-related collaboration activity.

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expenses were $42.9 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024, compared to $38.1 million for the same period in 2023. The increase was primarily due to an increase in allogeneic clinical stage programs, driven mainly by an increase in overall enrollment of our allogeneic programs and the initiation of our third allogeneic clinical trial, P-CD19CD20-ALLO1.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses were $9.8 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024, compared to $11.8 million for the same period in 2023. The decrease was primarily due to lower personnel expenses, mainly caused by a decrease in stock-based compensation expense driven by a one-time expense associated with the resignation of our former Executive Chairman in 2023.

Net Loss

Net loss was $24.3 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024, compared to net loss of $38.8 million for the same period of 2023.

Cash Position

As of March 31, 2024, the Company’s cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments balance was $198.6 million. In addition, the Company will receive $50 million from the recent Astellas research collaboration and $15 million from a recent milestone achievement within the Roche collaboration. The Company expects that its cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments together with these and other remaining near-term milestones and other payments from Roche will be sufficient to fund operations into the second half of 2025. Potential additional payments under the Roche Collaboration Agreement and/or potential additional business development could further extend cash runway.

Nykode Therapeutics Announces Clinical Collaboration with MSD to Evaluate VB10.16 in Combination with KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) in Patients with HPV16-Positive High-Risk Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer

On May 14, 2024 Nykode Therapeutics ASA (OSE: NYKD), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel immunotherapies, reported that it has expanded its collaboration with MSD (Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA) to include a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement for a phase 2 trial evaluating Nykode’s wholly-owned lead candidate, VB10.16, in combination with MSD’s anti-PD-1 therapy, KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) (Press release, Nykode Therapeutics, MAY 14, 2024, View Source [SID1234643233]). This study will enroll HPV16-positive high-risk patients with locally advanced cervical cancer undergoing chemoradiotherapy.

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VB10.16 is a potentially first-in-class off-the-shelf therapeutic cancer vaccine specifically designed to treat HPV16-induced malignancies. The cancer vaccine is built on Nykode’s technology platform of targeting antigens to antigen presenting cells. Nykode has reported promising data from the phase 2 VB C-02 trial (NCT04405349) in heavily pre-treated cervical cancer patients receiving VB10.16 in combination with atezolizumab with a median overall survival not yet reached (estimated to 25 months at the time of analysis). These data support Nykode’s ongoing efforts with the phase 2 VB-C-04 trial (NCT06099418) in second-line recurrent/metastatic cervical cancer. Furthermore, the VB10.16 clinical development program is expanding into new indications, including head and neck cancer, for which Nykode has an existing clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with MSD for the ongoing VBC-03 trial (NCT06016920) evaluating VB10.16 in combination with KEYTRUDA in patients with HPV16-positive, PD-L1-positive, recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Agnete Fredriksen, EVP, Chief Scientific Officer and Business Development, commented, "We are excited to expand our clinical development to include earlier stages of cervical cancer where there is a significant unmet medical need, and we see a huge potential for cancer vaccines. We are thrilled to continue building on our already established, highly valued collaboration with the experienced and talented team at MSD, a global leader in immuno-oncology."

KEYTRUDA is a registered trademark of Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA.

NANOBIOTIX Announces US FDA Protocol Acceptance for New Randomized Phase 2 Study Evaluating NBTXR3 for Patients with Stage Three Lung Cancer

On May 14, 2024 NANOBIOTIX (Euronext: NANO –– NASDAQ: NBTX – the ‘‘Company’’), a late-clinical stage biotechnology company pioneering nanoparticle-based therapeutic approaches to expand treatment possibilities for patients with cancer and other major diseases, reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("US FDA") issued a Study May Proceed Letter for a randomized Phase 2 study evaluating NBTXR3 for the treatment of patients with stage 3, unresectable non-small cell lung cancer ("NSCLC") (Press release, Nanobiotix, MAY 14, 2024, View Source [SID1234643232]). An IND to support this trial was submitted by the global trial sponsor, Johnson & Johnson Enterprise Innovation Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company.

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"The NBTXR3 collaboration established by our global licensing agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica NV continues to make progress toward our goal of reaching millions of patients with cancer around the world. The US FDA acceptance of the protocol for this new Phase 2 study has the potential to expand the NBTXR3 development pipeline to a new indication where innovation could potentially provide important outcomes," said Louis Kayitalire, MD, chief medical officer at Nanobiotix. "We look forward to continuing to prepare for the launch of the study."

About NBTXR3
NBTXR3 is a novel, potentially first-in-class oncology product composed of functionalized hafnium oxide nanoparticles that is administered via one-time intratumoral injection and activated by radiotherapy. Its proof-of-concept was achieved in soft tissue sarcomas for which the product received a European CE mark in 2019. The product candidate’s physical mechanism of action (MoA) is designed to induce significant tumor cell death in the injected tumor when activated by radiotherapy, subsequently triggering adaptive immune response and long-term anti-cancer memory. Given the physical MoA, Nanobiotix believes that NBTXR3 could be scalable across any solid tumor that can be treated with radiotherapy and across any therapeutic combination, particularly immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Radiotherapy-activated NBTXR3 is being evaluated across multiple solid tumor indications as a single agent or in combination with anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitors, including in NANORAY-312—a global, randomized Phase 3 study in locally advanced head and neck squamous cell cancers. In February 2020, the United States Food and Drug Administration granted regulatory Fast Track designation for the investigation of NBTXR3 activated by radiation therapy, with or without cetuximab, for the treatment of patients with locally advanced HNSCC who are not eligible for platinum-based chemotherapy—the same population being evaluated in the Phase 3 study.

Given the Company’s focus areas, and balanced against the scalable potential of NBTXR3, Nanobiotix has engaged in a collaboration strategy to expand development of the product candidate in parallel with its priority development pathways. Pursuant to this strategy, in 2019 Nanobiotix entered into a broad, comprehensive clinical research collaboration with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to sponsor several Phase 1 and Phase 2 studies evaluating NBTXR3 across tumor types and therapeutic combinations. In 2023, Nanobiotix announced a license agreement for the global co-development and commercialization of NBTXR3 with Janssen Pharmaceutica NV.

Mural Oncology Announces First Quarter 2024 Financial Results and Provides Business Update

On May 14, 2024 Mural Oncology plc (Nasdaq: MURA), a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company developing novel, investigational engineered cytokine therapies designed to address areas of unmet need for patients with a variety of cancers, reported financial results for the first quarter of 2024 and provided a business update (Press release, Mural Oncology, MAY 14, 2024, View Source [SID1234643231]).

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"We remain on track to share data readouts in the first half of next year from our two late-stage, potentially registrational studies of nemvaleukin. We are also excited about the potential of our less frequent dosing regimen of nemvaleukin that we are evaluating in a clinical trial as announced in March," said Caroline Loew, Ph.D., CEO of Mural Oncology. "As we look to further strengthen our pipeline, we have made progress with our preclinical programs for interleukin-18 (IL-18) and IL-12. Both are targets that have generated a great deal of interest in the immuno-oncology space, and we are diligently working to make candidate nominations for each program. We continue to be well capitalized to achieve our key clinical readouts and are laser-focused on the delivery of our goals."

Recent Corporate Highlights and Upcoming Milestones

The company’s late-stage clinical trials remain on track, with details as follows:
ARTISTRY-7 is a potentially registrational, phase 3 clinical trial evaluating nemvaleukin in combination with pembrolizumab compared to investigators’ choice of chemotherapy in approximately 448 patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Mural expects to report interim overall survival (OS) results based on approximately 75% of events in the first quarter of 2025. The company anticipates reporting final OS results in the second quarter of 2026.
Cohort 2 of ARTISTRY-6 is a potentially registrational, phase 2 clinical trial evaluating nemvaleukin as a monotherapy in 90 patients with mucosal melanoma. The company expects to report top-line data results from cohort 2 of ARTISTRY-6 in the first half of 2025.
Mural is evaluating a newly selected dose of less-frequent intravenous (LFIV) nemvaleukin in open-label cohorts of patients with cutaneous melanoma in ARTISTRY-6. The new dosing regimen is a shift from five daily infusions (days 1-5) to two infusions (days 1 and 8), per three-week cycle. The company expects preliminary data readouts in the monotherapy cohort in the first half of 2025, and in the combination cohort with pembrolizumab in the second half of 2025.
The company looks forward to presenting data from ARTISTRY-3, an evaluation of the LFIV dosing of nemvaleukin, at the upcoming American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) annual meeting in June 2024.
Mural presented IL-18 and IL-12 preclinical data for the first time at the American Association of Clinical Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) annual meeting in April 2024 that outlined the company’s novel approach to protein engineering. Both poster presentations are available at www.muraloncology.com/publications.
IL-18 poster synopsis: Native IL-18 is a potent immune-stimulating cytokine, but its efficacy is blunted by IL-18 binding protein (IL-18BP), a high affinity decoy receptor that binds to, and neutralizes, IL-18, thereby rendering it ineffective. Its potency is also limited by its short half-life. Mural’s IL-18 variant contains mutations designed to eliminate binding to IL-18BP while minimally impacting the native IL-18 structure. The company has also fused IL-18 to protein scaffolds to extend the half-life and increase IL-18’s exposure. Together, these may lead to a more durable immunological effect.
IL-12 poster synopsis: Native IL-12 is a highly potent pro-inflammatory cytokine, but because of its very narrow therapeutic index, it can be toxic with systemic exposure. Mural’s IL-12 variant splits the molecule into two inactive monomers: IL12p35 and IL-12p40. These individual subunits are then separately fused to antibody fragments, which deliver and concentrate IL-12 specifically in the tumor microenvironment with the goal of limiting systemic exposure.
Mural intends to nominate development candidates for these investigational engineered IL-18 and IL-12 cytokine therapies later this year.
Financial Results for the Quarter Ended March 31, 2024

Cash Position: As of March 31, 2024, cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities were $231.7 million.
R&D Expenses: Research and development expenses were $26.9 million for the first quarter of 2024 compared to $40.4 million for the first quarter of 2023. The decrease in expenses was primarily related to decreased headcount compared to the headcount allocated to the company by the former parent prior to the separation, decreased spend on the ARTISTRY-1 and ARTISTRY-2 trials as activities related to the ARTISTRY-1 and ARTISTRY-2 trials wound down in 2023, and decreased manufacturing spend on other programs. These decreases were partially offset by increased spend on the ARTISTRY-7 trial related to increased enrollment and associated clinical trial expenses.
G&A Expenses: General and administrative expenses were $7.2 million for the first quarter of 2024 compared to $3.7 million for the first quarter of 2023. The increase in expenses was primarily due to increases in employee-related expenses and professional fees associated with operating as a standalone public company after the separation.
Net Loss: Net loss was $30.9 million for the first quarter of 2024 compared to $46.5 million for the first quarter of 2023.
Financial Guidance

The company reaffirms guidance that its cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities are expected to fund its operations into the fourth quarter of 2025.
As noted in the 2023 year-end financial results press release, Mural anticipates reporting lower year-over-year operating expenses in 2024. Also, management forecasts higher operating expenses in 2024 versus 2025 due to the timing of clinical trial expenses.
About Nemvaleukin
Nemvaleukin alfa (nemvaleukin) is a novel, engineered cytokine designed to leverage antitumor effects of the IL-2 pathway while mitigating its hallmark toxicities that limit its use. Nemvaleukin selectively binds to the intermediate-affinity IL-2 receptor (IL-2R) and is sterically occluded from binding to the high-affinity IL-2R. Because of this molecular design, nemvaleukin treatment leads to preferential expansion of antitumor CD8+ T cells and natural killer cells, with minimal expansion of immunosuppressive regulatory T cells. Nemvaleukin is currently being evaluated in two potentially registrational late-stage trials.

About Mural Oncology’s IL-18 Program
IL-18 is a potent immune-stimulating cytokine, but its efficacy is blunted by IL-18 binding protein (IL-18BP), a high affinity decoy receptor that binds to, and neutralizes, IL-18, thereby rendering it ineffective. Native IL-18’s potency is also limited by its short half-life. Mural Oncology’s novel approach to protein engineering is designed to mitigate these issues. First, Mural introduced mutations to IL-18 that eliminate binding to IL-18BP while minimally impacting the native IL-18 structure. Second, it fused IL-18 to protein scaffolds which extend the half-life and increase IL-18’s exposure. Together, these have demonstrated more durable immunological effect in preclinical studies. Mural intends to nominate a development candidate for its IL-18 program by the end of this year.

About Mural Oncology’s IL-12 Program
Native IL-12 is a highly potent pro-inflammatory cytokine, but because of its very narrow therapeutic index, it can also be toxic with systemic exposure. To mitigate this hallmark toxicity, Mural, through its novel approach to protein engineering, split the IL-12p70 heterodimer into two inactive monomers: IL12p35 and IL-12p40. These individual subunits are then separately fused to antibody fragments and sequentially injected, which deliver and concentrate IL-12 specifically in the tumor microenvironment to limit systemic exposure. In preclinical studies, Mural’s engineered IL-12 achieved the desired reduction in serum while maintaining tumor concentrations providing the potential to reduce systemic toxicities. Mural intends to nominate a development candidate for its IL-12 program by the end of this year.

Kura Oncology Completes Enrollment in Registration-Directed Trial of Ziftomenib in NPM1-Mutant AML

On May 14, 2024 Kura Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq: KURA), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to realizing the promise of precision medicines for the treatment of cancer, reported that it has completed enrollment of 85 patients in the Phase 2 portion of KOMET-001, a registration-directed clinical trial of the Company’s menin inhibitor, ziftomenib (KO-539), in patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) NPM1-mutant acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (Press release, Kura Oncology, MAY 14, 2024, View Source [SID1234643230]). The Company expects to report topline data from the trial in early 2025.

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"We are thrilled to announce this critical milestone, which brings us one step closer to delivering ziftomenib as a potentially best-in-class treatment for patients with genetically defined acute leukemias," said Troy Wilson, Ph.D., J.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Kura Oncology. "Our confidence is supported by our recently announced Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which recognizes ziftomenib’s potential as an innovative medicine for patients with R/R NPM1-mutant AML and is intended to expedite review as we prepare for submission of a New Drug Application. We are grateful for the KOMET-001 investigators, patients and their families, and we look forward to sharing topline data from this pivotal study early next year."

Kura announced the first patients dosed in the Phase 2 portion of KOMET-001 in February 2023. The registration-directed study is designed to assess evidence of clinical activity, safety and tolerability of ziftomenib in patients with R/R NPM1-mutant AML, with a primary endpoint of complete response. The study has completed enrollment of the 85 patients necessary to support the primary endpoint analysis.

"The rapid enrollment of this study reflects the urgent need for more effective treatment options in AML as well as the potential for ziftomenib to address this need," said Eunice Wang, M.D., Chief of the Leukemia Service at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and principal investigator of the trial. "NPM1-mutant AML represents approximately 30% of new AML cases annually and is a disease of significant unmet need for which there is no approved targeted therapy. The favorable safety profile and encouraging clinical activity demonstrated by ziftomenib to date offer the potential to transform the standard of care for these AML patients."

About NPM1-mutant AML

AML is the most common acute leukemia in adults and begins when the bone marrow makes abnormal myeloblasts (white blood cells), red blood cells or platelets. Despite the many available treatments for AML, prognosis for patients remains poor and a high unmet need remains. The menin pathway is considered a driver for multiple genetic alterations of the disease, of which NPM1 mutations are among the most common, representing approximately 30% of AML cases. While patients with NPM1-m AML have high response rates to frontline therapy, relapse rates are high and survival outcomes are poor, with only 30% overall survival at 12 months in the R/R setting. Additionally, NPM1 mutations frequently occur with co-mutations in other disease-associated genes, including FLT3, DNMT3A and IDH1/2, with prognosis heavily influenced by the occurrence of co-occurring mutations. Adult patients with NPM1-m AML and select co-mutations and/or R/R disease have a poor prognosis, with median overall survival of only approximately 7.8 months in 2nd line, 5.3 months in 3rd line and 3.5 months following the 4th line.1 There are currently no FDA-approved therapies targeting NPM1-m AML.

About Ziftomenib

Ziftomenib is a novel, once-daily, oral investigational drug candidate targeting the menin-KMT2A/MLL protein-protein interaction for treatment of genetically defined AML patients with high unmet need. In the KOMET-001 Phase 1 study, ziftomenib demonstrated an encouraging safety profile and tolerability with reported events most often consistent with features and manifestations of underlying disease. Clinical activity of ziftomenib as a monotherapy was optimal at the 600 mg daily dose and a 35% complete remission rate was observed in 20 patients with NPM1-mutant AML treated at the recommended Phase 2 dose (600 mg). Ziftomenib has received Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of R/R NPM1-mutant AML. Additional information about clinical trials for ziftomenib can be found at kuraoncology.com/clinical-trials/#ziftomenib.