Kura Oncology Announces Preliminary Data from Its Farnesyl Transferase Inhibitor (FTI) Programs at the 2025 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress

FTI mechanism addresses innate and adaptive resistance pathways common to targeted oncology therapies

Early clinical and preclinical data support darlifarnib’s potential to enhance clinical benefit of PI3Kα-, KRAS- and tyrosine kinase inhibitors

50% objective response rate and 80% disease control rate in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cohort of darlifarnib plus cabozantinib in ongoing dose-escalation clinical trial

Kura Oncology to host a virtual investor event today, October 18, 2025, at 10:30 a.m. PT / 1:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. CEST

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kura Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq: KURA), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to realizing the promise of precision medicines for the treatment of cancer, today announced new preliminary data from its farnesyl transferase inhibitor (FTI) programs – darlifarnib (KO-2806) and tipifarnib – presented at the 2025 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Berlin, Germany, from October 17 – 21, 2025.

“Kura Oncology is pioneering the use of FTIs in combination with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), PI3Kα inhibitors and KRAS inhibitors to address mechanisms of innate and adaptive resistance, thereby enhancing and extending the clinical benefit of these single-agent targeted therapies,” said Troy Wilson, Ph.D., J.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Kura Oncology. “The clinical data reported here at ESMO 2025 build on our preclinical presentation from last month and underscore darlifarnib’s transformative potential as a versatile combination partner to major classes of precision medicines.”

Darlifarnib as Monotherapy in Advanced Solid Tumors – FIT-001 Phase 1 Trial

• HRAS-mutant (HRAS-m) tumors are sensitive to FTIs
• Manageable safety and tolerability profile at doses from 3 to 10 mg per day
• Encouraging antitumor activity in advanced HRAS-m solid tumors across multiple dose levels, demonstrating on-target activity and a broad therapeutic window
• Data support further evaluation of KO-2806 in combinations across tumor types
  
  

Darlifarnib + Cabozantinib in Renal Cell Carcinoma – FIT-001 Phase 1 Trial

• FTI mechanism blocks hyperactivated mTORC1 signaling in tumor endothelial cells
• Manageable safety profile in RCC patients across multiple doses, including at the full label dose of cabozantinib
• Antitumor activity observed across all doses in RCC, including in prior cabozantinib-exposed patients
  • ORR: 33%–50% in ccRCC (17-50% in patients with prior cabozantinib exposure)
  • DCR: 80%–100% in ccRCC
• Dose-escalation study ongoing and Phase 1b dose-expansion planned to assess optimal biologically active dose for combination