Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ: KURA)

Kura Oncology, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, is dedicated to the development of precision medicines for cancer treatment. The company's primary business activities include discovering, acquiring, developing, and commercializing innovative anti-cancer agents, with a particular focus on oncology indications that have significant unmet medical needs and attractive commercial potential. Kura Oncology's approach to developing precision medicines involves a disciplined strategy designed to identify response signals early in development and reduce development risks.

The company's operations span across various countries, including the United States, where it is headquartered, and it collaborates with research institutions such as the University of Michigan, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Kura Oncology has licensed patents and patent applications from these institutions and has entered into collaboration agreements with them.

Kura Oncology generates revenue through the development of its small molecule product candidates that target cancer signaling pathways. The company's lead product candidate is ziftomenib, a potent, selective, and orally bioavailable small molecule inhibitor of the menin-KMT2A interaction. Ziftomenib is being developed for the treatment of genetically defined subsets of acute leukemias, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The menin-KMT2A program was licensed from the University of Michigan. Ziftomenib has demonstrated encouraging monotherapy activity in patients with relapsed or refractory AML, with a complete remission rate of 35% in patients with NPM1-mutant AML. The company has also presented preliminary data from a Phase 1/2 study of ziftomenib in combination with venetoclax and azacitidine in patients with newly diagnosed or relapsed or refractory AML, with an overall response rate of 53% in patients with NPM1-mutant AML.

Kura Oncology is also developing tipifarnib, a potent, selective, and orally bioavailable farnesyl transferase inhibitor, for the treatment of recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) with HRAS mutant tumors. Tipifarnib has been previously studied in more than 5,000 cancer patients and has demonstrated compelling and durable anti-cancer activity in certain patients with a manageable side effect profile.

The company's newest product candidate is KO-2806, a next-generation farnesyl transferase inhibitor that is being developed for the treatment of advanced solid tumors. KO-2806 has demonstrated improved potency, pharmacokinetic, and physicochemical properties relative to earlier FTI drug candidates.

Within the industry, Kura Oncology competes with several major pharmaceutical companies, specialty pharmaceutical companies, and biotechnology companies worldwide that are also developing new products to treat cancer. The company faces competition from companies such as Syndax, Biomea Fusion, Janssen, Sumitomo Dainippon, and Daiichi Sankyo, which are also developing menin-KMT2A inhibitors. However, Kura Oncology's competitive advantage lies in its disciplined approach to development, which is designed to identify response signals early in development and reduce development risks.

Kura Oncology's brand names and trade names include ziftomenib, tipifarnib, and KO-2806. These products are designed to inhibit mutated or abnormally functioning cellular pathways that drive cancer growth or drug resistance, and the company intends to pair them with molecular or cellular diagnostics to identify those patients with tumors most likely to respond to treatment. Kura Oncology's precision medicine approach is focused on developing targeted therapies that are designed to selectively target specific molecular pathways or cellular mechanisms that are associated with cancer, with the goal of improving patient outcomes and reducing the risk of adverse events.