Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRIS) has announced that it will present encouraging data from its TakeAim Leukaemia and TakeAim Lymphoma trials at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2022 Annual Meeting. This meeting will be held in Chicago and online.
According to the CEO and President of Curis, James Dentzer, the company is excited to share data on its therapies with the medical community. It will also share data on the efficacy of emavusertib in conjunction with ibrutinib in treating Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Dentzer adds that the studies demonstrate the efficacy of the drugs in treating cancer. Of note is a patient with primary central nervous system lymphoma patients who previously received treatment with ibrutinib. Moreover, the company presented data from the TakeAim Leukaemia study, which it disclosed in January. These results indicated that emarvusatib was efficient when used alone to treat patients with refractory or relapsed acute myeloid leukaemia or high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome.
The company is also partnering with universities
The Head of Research and Development at Curis, Dr Robert Martell, adds that the company will not only present data from its studies but also discuss data from its collaborations with the University of Florida and Washington University. These partnerships have helped the company investigate the use of emavusertib for other types of tumours other than the ones it is testing.
How the company conducted the TakeAim Lymphoma study
The TakeAim Lymphoma study was a Phase I/II dose, expansion, dose-escalation, open-label study that evaluated the use of emavusertib as a monotherapy to treat relapsed and refractory haematological malignancies like non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. It also evaluated its efficacy when used with ibrutinib.
The researchers made many crucial findings during the trial. They found that the compound was well tolerated and that there were no dose-limiting toxicities of emarvusatib at 200mg. However, they observed syncope and stomatitis after increasing the dose to 300mg.
The team also found 8 out of 9 reviewable patients had a reduced tumour burden. This effect was also seen in one of the patients who had previously received ibrutinib. The finding led the researchers to believe that emavusertib effectively overcame resistance to ibrutinib.
The company is now heading to a dose-expansion phase to determine the appropriate dose for the compound.
