Aurigene Discovery Technologies Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd and Curis Inc, will conduct Phase 2 trials of CA-170, a potential drug to treat cancers at select sites in India.

Curis is a specialised biotechnology company engaged in discovery and early clinical development of novel and best-in-class therapies to treat cancer and inflammatory diseases.

The next phase of trials are a result of the encouraging response to the presentation of preliminary data from the initial 34 patients with cancer treated in the dose escalation stage of the Phase 1 trial of CA-170 at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress.

Curis is Aurigene’s collaborator and licensee of CA-170, and a biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialisation of innovative and effective therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. The Phase 1 trial has been conducted in the US, South Korea and Spain.

The Phase 2 trial is the result of the initial safety data and preliminary evidence of clinical benefit observed in the trial, a statement from Aurigene said.

CA-170 is an oral small molecule targeting the immune checkpoints PDL1 and VISTA. Data presented at the ESMO 2017 conference represents the initial 34 patients treated to date in the dose escalation.

Aurigene has commercial rights to the programme in India and Russia in addition to milestones, royalties other commercial supply rights globally, said C.S.N. Murthy, CEO of the company.

“We are pleased with these early results. Evidence of tumor shrinkage and multiple patients remaining on drug treatment for extended periods, along with signals for biomarkers of immune modulation in patient blood and tumor samples, tells us the programme continues to move in the right direction," said Ali Fattaey, President and CEO of Curis.

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