Providing an update on CUDC-101 and other preclinical drug candidates under its targeted cancer drug development platform, the company said CUDC-101 is its lead multi-target inhibitor drug candidate under development, which is designed to inhibit epidermal growth factor receptor and Her2, two validated cancer targets, as well as histone deacetylase (HDAC).
Curis has generated in vitro and in vivo preclinical data to support ongoing CUDC-101 preclinical development efforts. CUDC-101 displays anti-proliferation and apoptosis, or programmed cell death, inducing activities in vitro against a broad range of cancer cell types including lung, breast, prostate, colon, liver and pancreas.
CUDC-101 also inhibits the in vivo growth of various human cancers in eleven standard mouse tumor xenograft models in which human cancer cells are transplanted into the mouse, allowing the cancer cells to grow into established tumors.
Daniel Passeri, president and CEO of Curis, said: “We believe that HDAC inhibition is a very promising non-kinase target for cancer therapy. Currently there is one FDA-approved HDAC inhibitor and several other HDAC drug candidates in clinical trials for cancer.”