Curis Issued US Patent Covering HSP90 Inhibitor Debio 0932

Curis

, a drug development company seeking to develop next generation targeted small molecule drug candidates for cancer treatment, today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a patent covering a genus of compounds that includes Debio 0932, an orally-administered Heat Shock Protein 90 (HSP90) inhibitor, which is being developed by Curis' licensee Debiopharm. The newly issued patent, U.S. Patent Number 8,324,240, is entitled "Fused Amino Pyridine as HSP90 Inhibitors." "We believe that this patent issuance recognizes the novelty of Debio 0932, a molecule that was invented internally by Curis scientists," stated Dan Passeri, Curis' President and Chief Executive Officer. "We have been pleased with Debiopharm's development efforts and the clinical data generated to-date. We look forward to additional data from this promising molecule, as Debiopharm is currently testing Debio 0932 in a Phase I/II clinical trial in combination with chemotherapy in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as well as in a Phase Ib clinical study in patients with solid tumors, including NSCLC. Debiopharm also intends to initiate a separate Phase I/II clinical trial with Debio 0932 in combination with Everolimus in patients with renal cell carcinoma in