Strategic resource allocation to fully explore KB-0742’s potential in both dose escalation and expansion cohorts across multiple tumor types in its ongoing Phase 1/2 study
Restructuring plan extends anticipated cash runway into 2026
Company to continue with lanraplenib development and to focus discovery efforts on maturing projects and Genentech collaboration activities
SAN MATEO, Calif. and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 02, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Kronos Bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:KRON), a company dedicated to transforming the lives of those affected by cancer, today announced a plan to optimize its resource allocation, restructure, and contain costs in light of the positive preliminary safety and efficacy clinical data from its Phase 1/2 study of KB-0742. This plan positions the company to maximize the potential of KB-0742 while continuing to advance the development of lanraplenib, currently in the dose escalation portion of a Phase 1b/2 study. The company will also focus its discovery efforts on maturing projects and its Genentech collaboration activities. Kronos Bio expects that these restructuring efforts, which include a 19% reduction in force, will extend its cash runway into 2026.
“We are committed to fully exploring the promise of KB-0742. At the recent AACR-NCI-EORTC meeting, we shared positive preliminary efficacy and safety data from the Phase 1 dose escalation portion of the Phase 1/2 KB-0742 study. The data demonstrated on-mechanism, single agent anti-tumor activity in heavily pre-treated patients with transcriptionally addicted solid tumors. We have not yet defined a maximum tolerated dose and we may unlock even better anti-tumor activity at higher doses or on alternative schedules as the study progresses,” said Norbert Bischofberger, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Kronos Bio. “The measures we have taken today underscore that commitment. By streamlining our operations and extending our runway, we best position the company to optimally fund our KB-0742 clinical studies while continuing to focus on the clinical development of lanraplenib, the advancement of our maturing discovery projects, and our collaboration with Genentech.”
Dr. Bischofberger continued, “We are grateful for the contributions of all of our employees, including those departing Kronos Bio today, whose hard work and dedication has gotten us to this point. We are confident that by taking these difficult but necessary measures we will be able to deliver on our mission to bring forward new and innovative therapies for difficult-to-treat cancers.”
About KB-0742
KB-0742 is a highly selective, orally bioavailable inhibitor of cyclin dependent kinase 9 (CDK9) in development for the treatment of transcriptionally addicted solid tumors. CDK9 is a global regulator of transcription and plays an essential role in both the expression and function of oncogenic transcription factors such as MYC, a well-characterized oncogene that is amplified in approximately 30% of all solid tumors, and amplified or highly overexpressed in lung, ovarian, and triple negative breast cancers. KB-0742 was generated and optimized from a compound that was identified using the company’s proprietary small molecule microarray (SMM) screening platform.
