Curis and Genentech halt development of skin cancer product

Curis said that recent results from the study showed that the formulation did not downregulate the targeted pharmacodynamic marker in this tumor, suggesting that the drug candidate may not be adequately penetrating human skin.

As a result of the disappointing data, the companies have decided not to continue with development of the product in its present formulation.

“We believe that downregulation of the pharmacodynamic marker we are targeting remains a valid approach for the treatment of basal cell carcinoma. We are working with Genentech to determine the next steps for this program and expect to make a decision in the coming months,” said Daniel Passeri, president and CEO of Curis, Inc.

Mr Passeri went on to highlight that another collaboration with Genentech for the treatment of systemic solid tumor cancers is a separate drug development program, and as such will not be effected by the disappointing results in the basal cell carcinoma study.

In June 2003, Curis established a collaboration with Genentech for the continued development of Hedgehog pathway inhibitors. The focus of the collaboration is to identify lead clinical candidates for topical and systemic treatment of solid tumors. Numerous preclinical reports have linked abnormal activation of the Hedgehog pathway to the growth of several solid tumors, including basal cell carcinoma, pancreatic cancer, small cell lung cancer, prostate cancer, and others.