Kronos Bio, cancer-focused biotech spun off from MIT, announced this week that it will be letting go of 19% of its staff in an effort to extend its cash runway into 2026.
The decision to streamline operations comes in the wake of positive results from the phase 1/2 study of KB-0742, a cyclin-dependent kinase 9 (CDK9) inhibitor, which exhibited promising anti-tumor activity in patients with transcriptionally addicted solid tumors. The trial data, presented at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference in Boston, involved 28 patients receiving doses from 10 mg to 60 mg. In two myxoid liposarcoma patients, the treatment led to tumor reduction, with one achieving a 113-day partial response and the other a 26% tumor size reduction with stable disease. Across various cancer types, 44% of patients achieved stable disease, resulting in an overall disease control rate of 48%.
According to Kronos, the "strategic resource allocation" will allow the company to fully explore KB-0742’s potential in both dose escalation and expansion cohorts across multiple tumor types.
The plan also allows Kronos to continue to advance the development of lanraplenib, currently in the dose escalation portion of a phase 1b/2 study. Lanraplenib is a next-generation SYK inhibitor focused on patients with FLT3-mutated acute myeloid leukemia.
