Debiopharm and Curis Announce Initiation of Phase Ib Expansion Study of Debio 0932

Curis, Inc. and Debiopharm Group have announced that Debiopharm has begun treating patients in a Phase Ib clinical trial of Heat Shock Protein 90 (HSP90) inhibitor Debio 0932.

Debiopharm recently successfully completed a Phase Ia dose escalation study with Debio 0932 and has indicated that it expects to initiate a combination Phase I/II study in non-small cell lung cancer patients in the second quarter of 2012.

“Our team has been very pleased with the development of Debio 0932, which has become an important molecule in Debiopharm’s pipeline,” said Rolland-Yves Mauvernay, President and Founder of Debiopharm Group.

Mauvernay continued, “We believe that HSP90 represents an important molecular target in cancer therapy, and we are eager to advance this molecule in the Phase Ib clinical trial, as well in our planned Phase I/II studies, which we hope will yield important new data for the further development of Debio 0932.”

“We have been highly impressed with the depth of Debiopharm’s development expertise and commitment to furthering Debio 0932 into additional clinical studies in 2012,” said Dan Passeri, Curis President and Chief Executive Officer.

Passeri continued, “Importantly, we continue to be very pleased with the clinical results that have been observed to-date, and we look forward to reporting further progress on this molecule in the future.”