Erasca Revamps With Two In-Licensings, $160m Follow-On Offering

In a series of moves that some analysts called unexpected, Erasca, Inc. unveiled the in-licensing of two preclinical RAS-targeted cancer compounds, outlined a planned $160m public offering and said it was de-emphasizing three ongoing programs on 16 May. These decisions came little more than one week after the San Diego-based firm’s first quarter earnings call, with one analyst saying he was surprised by the announcements and saw both upside and downside in them.

What is not changed, Erasca CEO Jonathan Lim said on a 17 May investor call, is the company’s focus on targeted therapy and the goal of “erasing cancer” by shutting down the MAP kinase pathway through complementary approaches. Erasca’s lead program remains Phase III pan-RAF inhibitor naporafenib, licensed from Novartis in 2022. (Also see "New Company, Big Goal: Serial Entrepreneur Jonathan Lim Launches Erasca To 'Erase Cancer'" - Scrip, 18 December, 2018