Arcus Biosciences Announces Clinical Trial Collaboration Agreement to Evaluate Casdatifan in Combination with Volrustomig in Renal Cell Carcinoma

Business Wire 2-Oct-2024 4:05 PM

• Arcus and AstraZeneca to evaluate their respective molecules in combination to establish a potential first- and best-in-class treatment for clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC)
• This is the second clinical collaboration between Arcus and AstraZeneca

Arcus Biosciences, Inc. (NYSE:RCUS), a clinical-stage, global biopharmaceutical company focused on developing differentiated molecules and combination therapies for people with cancer, today announced a clinical trial collaboration agreement with AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) to evaluate casdatifan (AB521), Arcus's investigational HIF-2a inhibitor, in combination with volrustomig, AstraZeneca's investigational PD-1/CTLA-4 bispecific antibody, in patients with ccRCC.

"We believe casdatifan has best-in-class potential, based on the observed PK and PD profiles and the emerging clinical data from our ARC-20 study in patients with ccRCC," said Terry Rosen, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Arcus. "This agreement will enable Arcus and AstraZeneca to collaborate and assess the potential for the novel combination of casdatifan with volrustomig to improve outcomes for patients with ccRCC."

"Renal cell carcinoma is a known CTLA-4-responsive tumor type, and our first-in-human study with volrustomig monotherapy demonstrated encouraging efficacy in first-line advanced ccRCC," said Cristian Massacesi, chief medical officer and oncology chief development officer, AstraZeneca. "We are excited by the potential to build on this by combining HIF-2a inhibition with volrustomig to drive deeper and more durable responses for patients."

As part of this collaboration, AstraZeneca will sponsor and operationalize a study to evaluate the safety and early efficacy of the casdatifan plus volrustomig combination in patients with advanced ccRCC.

This is the second clinical collaboration between Arcus and AstraZeneca. In 2020, the companies announced a clinical collaboration for PACIFIC-8, a registrational Phase 3 study of domvanalimab, an Fc-silent anti-TIGIT antibody, added to backbone global standard-of-care durvalumab, an anti-PD-L1 antibody, in patients with unresectable Stage III non-small cell lung cancer.

Under the Gilead and Arcus collaboration agreement, Gilead has the right to opt-in to development and commercialization for casdatifan after Arcus's delivery of a qualifying data package.

About Casdatifan (AB521)

Casdatifan is a small-molecule inhibitor of HIF-2a, a transcription factor involved in oxygen sensing in multiple organs as well as in tumors. Clear cell RCC is almost universally associated with HIF-2a dysregulation as a result of genetic abnormalities in the VHL pathway. This creates a situation of pseudohypoxia and the abnormal increase in HIF-2a-mediated expression of a wide array of proteins involved in cancer cell proliferation and survival, treatment resistance and angiogenesis. Casdatifan is being evaluated in ARC-20, a Phase 1/1b study in cancer patients, and STELLAR-009, a Phase 1b/2 study in combination with zanzalintinib in patients with advanced solid tumors, including ccRCC.

Casdatifan and domvanalimab are investigational molecules. Approval from any regulatory authority for any use of these molecules globally has not been received, and their safety and efficacy have not been established.

About RCC

According to the American Cancer Society, kidney cancer is among the top 10 most commonly diagnosed forms of cancer among both men and women in the U.S., and an estimated 81,600 Americans will be diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2024. Clear cell RCC is the most common type of kidney cancer in adults. If detected in its early stages, the five-year survival rate for RCC is high; for patients with advanced or late-stage metastatic RCC, however, the five-year survival rate is only 15%. In 2022, approximately 32,200 patients with advanced kidney cancer required systemic therapy in the U.S., with over 20,000 patients receiving first-line treatment.

About Arcus Biosciences

Arcus Biosciences is a clinical-stage, global biopharmaceutical company developing differentiated molecules and combination medicines for people with cancer. In partnership with industry collaborators, patients and physicians around the world, Arcus is expediting the development of first- or best-in-class medicines against well-characterized biological targets and pathways and studying novel, biology-driven combinations that have the potential to help people with cancer live longer. Founded in 2015, the company has expedited the development of multiple investigational medicines into clinical studies, including new combination approaches that target TIGIT, PD-1, HIF-2a, CD73, dual A2a/A2b receptor, CD39, and AXL. For more information about Arcus Biosciences' clinical and preclinical programs, please visit www.arcusbio.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements regarding events or results to occur in the future contained herein are forward-looking statements reflecting the current beliefs and expectations of management made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, the potential of casdatifan alone and in combination with volrustomig. All forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other important factors that may cause Arcus's actual results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: difficulties or delays in initiating or conducting clinical trials due to difficulties or delays in the regulatory process, enrolling subjects or manufacturing or supplying product for such clinical trials; the emergence of adverse events or other undesirable side effects; difficulties associated with the management of the collaboration activities or expanded clinical programs; changes in the competitive landscape for Arcus's programs; and the inherent uncertainty associated with pharmaceutical product development and clinical trials. Risks and uncertainties facing Arcus are described more fully in the "Risk Factors" section of Arcus's most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10Q filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Arcus disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update, supplement or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this press release except to the extent required by law. The Arcus name and logo are trademarks of Arcus Biosciences, Inc. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners.

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