Erasca Unveils First Clinical Candidates, Aims To Create A MAPK Clamp

SHP2, ERK Inhibitors Disclosed After Two Years, $300m In Funding

Former Ignyta CEO’s well-funded Erasca obtained its first clinical-stage precision oncology candidates from NiKang and Asana, eyeing a first-in-class approach to RAS/MAPK-driven cancers.

staircase pathway in the beautiful forest
Erasca's first disclosed programs aim to shut down the RAS/MAPK pathway • Source: Shutterstock

Erasca Inc. launched at the end of 2018 with $42m, a high-profile CEO and undisclosed precision oncology programs with the ambitious goal of “erasing cancer.” Even after raising another $200m in April of last year, the company founded and helmed by Jonathan Lim – who was heading up Ignyta, Inc. when Roche Holding AG agreed to buy it in 2017 for $1.7bn – declined to describe its cancer drug development programs. But now that Erasca has initiated its first clinical trial, the company is ready to unveil its first two drug candidates.

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