Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) shares rose Friday after the biotechnology firm confirmed a $30 million milestone payment from its collaboration with Kyowa Kirin.
The payment followed the first patient dosing in the KOMET-017 Phase 3 registrational study for ziftomenib, a novel oral menin inhibitor under development for acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
The KOMET-017 program includes two independent, global, randomized Phase 3 trials assessing ziftomenib in combination with both intensive and non-intensive chemotherapy regimens for newly diagnosed NPM1-mutated or KMT2A-rearranged AML.
Kura describes it as the only menin inhibitor initiative running parallel registrational studies across both chemotherapy settings. Kura Oncology is pursuing precision cancer therapies designed to target specific genetic drivers.
Farnesyl Transferase Inhibitor (FTI) Program Data
The San Diego-based company also shared fresh preliminary results from its farnesyl transferase inhibitor (FTI) programs, darlifarnib (KO-2806) and tipifarnib, presented at the 2025 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress held in Berlin from Oct. 17 to Oct. 21.
Troy Wilson, Ph.D., J.D., president and CEO of Kura Oncology, said the company aims to use FTIs alongside other precision drugs to overcome resistance.
“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,” Wilson said.
According to company data, darlifarnib as a monotherapy showed manageable safety, favorable tolerability and encouraging antitumor signals in advanced HRAS-mutant solid tumors at doses ranging from 3 to 10 milligrams daily.
These results suggest the therapy’s potential as a versatile combination partner across multiple tumor types.
Expanding Oncology Pipeline
Kura continues to advance both darlifarnib and tipifarnib in various combination settings aimed at improving outcomes for patients resistant to existing targeted therapies.
The firm’s broader research strategy highlights FTIs as critical tools for unlocking new pathways in tumor suppression and treatment durability.
Price Action: KURA shares were trading higher by 3.57% to $9.425 at last check Friday.
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