On August 7, 2025 Kura Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq: KURA), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to realizing the promise of precision medicines for the treatment of cancer, reported second quarter 2025 financial results and provided a corporate update (Press release, Kura Oncology, AUG 7, 2025, View Source [SID1234654988]).

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"FDA’s acceptance of our NDA for ziftomenib represents another important step toward addressing a high unmet need in patients with relapsed or refractory NPM1-mutant AML," said Troy Wilson, Ph.D., J.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Kura Oncology. "As a menin inhibitor, ziftomenib targets a fundamental disease driver in certain genetically defined subsets of AML, and along with our partners at Kyowa Kirin, we are committed to advancing ziftomenib as a potential therapy for patients throughout the continuum of care. With preparations underway for commercialization, upcoming initiation of two registrational trials of ziftomenib in the frontline setting and a strong pipeline to support future growth, we believe Kura is well-positioned to deliver meaningful benefit to patients and long-term value to stakeholders."

Recent Highlights

FDA Priority Review of New Drug Application for ziftomenib with PDUFA target action date of November 30, 2025 – In June 2025, Kura and Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd. (Kyowa Kirin) announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted Kura’s NDA seeking full approval for ziftomenib as a treatment for adult patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a nucleophosmin 1 mutation (NPM1-m). Ziftomenib is the only menin inhibitor to receive Breakthrough Therapy Designation (BTD) for this indication. The application has been granted Priority Review and assigned a PDUFA target action date of November 30, 2025.
Commercial readiness activities advancing in line with the regulatory review timeline – Pre-launch efforts by medical affairs, market access, patient support, and sales continue. Hiring and onboarding of U.S. field sales team are now complete. Pre-approval information exchange with key stakeholders across the AML ecosystem is ongoing.
Presentation of positive results from the KOMET-001 pivotal trial of ziftomenib in R/R NPM1-m AML at 2025 ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting – The study achieved a complete remission (CR) plus CR with partial hematologic recovery (CRh) rate of 23%, an improvement over historical controls in a heavily pretreated patient population with limited survival and few treatment options. Key safety and tolerability measures, including manageable differentiation syndrome, low rates of ziftomenib-related myelosuppression and treatment discontinuation, absence of clinically significant QTc prolongation and minimal drug-drug interactions highlighted a potentially favorable benefit-risk profile for ziftomenib.
Presentation of clinical data from the Phase 1b expansion cohort of KOMET-007 evaluating ziftomenib in combination with intensive chemotherapy (7+3) in newly diagnosed NPM1-m and KMT2A-rearranged AML at 2025 EHA (Free EHA Whitepaper) Congress – High rates of CR and measurable residual disease (MRD) negativity with ziftomenib in combination with intensive chemotherapy in newly diagnosed NPM1-m and KMT2A-rearranged (KMT2A-r) AML were reported. Among patients achieving a composite CR, 68% of NPM1-m and 83% of KMT2A-r patients reached MRD-negative status at a median of ~4–5 weeks. At a median follow-up of 25 and 16 weeks, 96% and 88% of patients in the respective cohorts remained alive and on study. Ziftomenib was well tolerated, enabling patients to remain on treatment through consolidation and maintenance, without interruption, dose reduction, or added myelosuppression.
Nomination of next-generation menin inhibitor designed for the treatment of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes and menin-dependent cardiometabolic indications – In preclinical models of type 2 diabetes, ziftomenib has been shown to improve glucose control, enhance insulin production, reduce insulin resistance, and selectively induce beta-cell proliferation, supporting menin as a therapeutic target for beta-cell regeneration. Kura has nominated a next-generation menin inhibitor for evaluation in diabetes. Development plans and timelines will be announced in a future update.
Three clinical abstracts from Kura’s farnesyl transferase inhibitor (FTI) program accepted for presentation at the 2025 ESMO (Free ESMO Whitepaper) Congress – The presentations will include the first clinical data on Kura’s lead investigational FTI therapy, KO-2806, in combination with cabozantinib in renal cell carcinoma (Poster #2604P), as well as KO-2806 monotherapy in advanced RAS-mutant solid tumors (Poster #981P). An additional abstract will highlight clinical data from the combination of the FTI tipifarnib and alpelisib in patients with PIK3CA-mutant head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) (Poster #1349P).
Financial Results

Collaboration revenue from our Kyowa Kirin partnership for the second quarter of 2025 was $15.3 million, compared to no revenue for the second quarter of 2024.
Research and development expenses for the second quarter of 2025 were $62.8 million, compared to $39.7 million for the second quarter of 2024.
General and administrative expenses for the second quarter of 2025 were $25.2 million, compared to $16.7 million for the second quarter of 2024.
Net loss for the second quarter of 2025 was $66.1 million, compared to a net loss of $50.8 million for the second quarter of 2024. Net loss for the second quarter included non-cash share-based compensation expense of $6.9 million, compared to $8.4 million for the same period in 2024.
As of June 30, 2025, Kura had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $630.7 million, compared to $727.4 million as of December 31, 2024.
Based on our current plans, we believe that our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments as of June 30, 2025 will be sufficient to enable us to fund our current operating expenses into 2027, and, combined with anticipated funding under our collaboration agreement with Kyowa Kirin, should support our ziftomenib AML program through commercialization in the frontline combination setting.
Forecasted Milestones

Continued regulatory interactions with the FDA ahead of the November 30, 2025 PDUFA target action date for ziftomenib as a monotherapy for adult patients with relapsed or refractory NPM1-m AML.
Initiate KOMET-017, two independent Phase 3 registration-enabling trials in frontline intensive chemotherapy and non-intensive chemotherapy AML settings, in the second half of 2025.
Present preliminary clinical data from the KOMET-007 Phase 1b expansion cohort evaluating ziftomenib in combination with venetoclax and azacitidine in the second half of 2025.
Initiate one or more FIT-001 expansion cohorts of KO-2806 and cabozantinib in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma in the second half of 2025.
Present data from the FIT-001 Phase 1 trial evaluating KO-2806 and cabozantinib in patients with renal cell carcinoma at the 2025 ESMO (Free ESMO Whitepaper) Congress in October 2025.
Present data from the FIT-001 Phase 1 monotherapy dose escalation of KO-2806 in patients with RAS-mutant solid tumors at the 2025 ESMO (Free ESMO Whitepaper) Congress in October 2025.
Present data from the KURRENT-HN trial evaluating tipifarnib and alpelisib in PIK3CA-dependent HNSCC at the 2025 ESMO (Free ESMO Whitepaper) Congress in October 2025.
Conference Call and Webcast

Kura’s management will host a webcast and conference call at 4:30 p.m. ET / 1:30 p.m. PT today, August 7, 2025, to discuss the financial results for the second quarter of 2025 and to provide a corporate update. The live call may be accessed by dialing (800) 579-2543 for domestic callers and (785) 424-1789 for international callers and entering the conference ID: KURAQ2. A live webcast and archived replay of the event will be available here or online from the investor relations section of the Company’s website at www.kuraoncology.com.