Basal cell carcinoma is the most common form of all human cancers with approximately 800,000 to 1,000,000 new cases reported every year in the US. The drug candidate is an antagonist of the Hedgehog signaling pathway and is being co-developed through a collaboration between Curis and Genentech.
The focus of the collaboration between the two companies, established in 2003, 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, medulloblastoma, pancreatic cancer, small cell lung cancer, prostate cancer, and others.
In January 2005, Curis elected to exercise a co-development option to help fund development costs for the basal cell carcinoma clinical candidate, which was selected in March last year. Curis’ co-development right applies solely to the US marketplace and includes applications for basal cell carcinoma and any other indications for which a topically administered clinical candidate may be developed.