On December 5, 2023 Curis, a biotechnology company focused on the development of emavusertib (CA-4948), an orally available, small molecule IRAK4 inhibitor, reported that it has entered into an investigator-initiated clinical trial agreement with the University of Florida to study the combination of emavusertib and pembrolizumab in patients with metastatic melanoma (Press release, Curis, DEC 5, 2023, View Source [SID1234638152]).

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Curis is responsible for supply of emavusertib.
Merck is responsible for supply of pembrolizumab and clinical study costs.
Both companies retain 100% of the commercial rights to their respective programs.
This announcement builds on the preclinical findings recently published for this combination by researchers at the University of Florida who, with the University of Chicago, will be the initial clinical investigators for this study.

"We are pleased to advance the novel combination of emavusertib (IRAK4) and pembrolizumab (anti-PD1) in metastatic melanoma," said James Dentzer, President and CEO of Curis. "We are grateful to Merck for their financial support of this study and are excited to begin the exploration of emavusertib’s potential as an add-on to standard of care in solid tumor malignancies."

The study, "A Phase 1/2 Study of Oral IRAK-4 Inhibitor CA-4948 in Combination With Pembrolizumab Following Stereotactic Radiosurgery in Patients With Melanoma Brain Metastases" (NCT05669352) is expected to begin enrollment in first half 2024.