PRESS RELEASE

https://www.aurigene.com/curis-and-aurigene-announce-amendment-of-collaboration-for-the-development-and-commercialization-of-ca-170/

Curis and Aurigene Announce Amendment of Collaboration for the Development and Commercialization of CA-170

– Aurigene to fund and conduct a Phase 2b/3 randomized study of CA-170 in patients with non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (nsNSCLC) –

– Aurigene to receive Asia rights for CA-170; Curis entitled to royalty payments in Asia –

LEXINGTON, Mass., February 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRIS), a biotechnology company focused on the development of innovative therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, today announced that it has entered into an amendment of its collaboration, license and option agreement with Aurigene Discovery Technologies, Ltd. (Aurigene). Under the terms of the amended agreement, Aurigene will fund and conduct a Phase 2b/3 randomized study evaluating CA-170, an orally available, dual
inhibitor of VISTA and PDL1, in combination with chemoradiation, in approximately 240 patients with nonsquamous
non-small cell lung cancer (nsNSCLC). In turn, Aurigene receives rights to develop and commercialize CA-170 in Asia, in addition to its existing rights in India and Russia, based on the terms of the original agreement. Curis retains U.S., E.U., and rest of world rights to CA-170, and is entitled to receive royalty payments on potential future sales of CA-170 in Asia.

In 2019, Aurigene presented clinical data from a Phase 2a basket study of CA-170 in patients with multiple tumor types, including those with nsNSCLC. In the study, CA-170 demonstrated promising signs of safety and efficacy in nsNSCLC patients compared to various anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibodies.

“We are pleased to announce this amendment which leverages our partner Aurigene’s expertise and resources to support the clinical advancement of CA-170, as well as maintain our rights to CA-170 outside of Asia,” said James Dentzer, President and Chief Executive Officer of Curis. “Phase 2a data presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) conference last fall supported the potential for CA-170 to serve as a therapeutic option for patients with nsNSCLC. We look forward to working with our partner Aurigene to further explore this opportunity.”

“Despite recent advancements, patients with localized unresectable NSCLC struggle with high rates of recurrence and need for expensive intravenous biologics. The CA-170 data presented at ESMO 2019 from Aurigene’s Phase 2 ASIAD trial showed encouraging results in Clinical Benefit Rate and Prolonged PFS and support its potential to provide clinically meaningful benefit to Stage III and IVa nsNSCLC patients, in combination with chemoradiation and as oral maintenance” said Kumar Prabhash, MD, Professor of Medical Oncology at Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India.

Murali Ramachandra, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Aurigene, commented, “Development of CA-170, with its unique dual inhibition of PD-L1 and VISTA, is the result of years of hard-work and commitment by many people, including the patients who participated in the trials, caregivers and physicians, along with the talented teams at Aurigene and Curis. We look forward to further developing CA-170 in nsNSCLC.”

About Curis, Inc.

Curis is a biotechnology company focused on the development of innovative therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, including fimepinostat, which is being investigated in combination with venetoclax in a Phase 1 clinical study in patients with DLBCL. In 2015, Curis entered into a collaboration with Aurigene in the areas of immuno-oncology and precision oncology. As part of this collaboration, Curis has exclusive licenses to oral small molecule antagonists of immune checkpoints including, the VISTA/PDL1 antagonist CA-170, and the TIM3/PDL1 antagonist CA-327, as well as the IRAK4 kinase inhibitor, CA- 4948. CA-4948 is currently undergoing testing in a Phase 1 trial in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
In addition, Curis is engaged in a collaboration with ImmuNext for development of CI-8993, a monoclonal anti-VISTA antibody. Curis is also party to a collaboration with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, under which Genentech and Roche are commercializing Erivedge® for the treatment of advanced basal cell carcinoma. For more information, visit Curis’ website at www.curis.com.

About Aurigene

Aurigene is a development stage biotech company engaged in discovery and clinical development of novel and best-in-class therapies to treat cancer and inflammatory diseases and a wholly owned subsidiary of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. (BSE: 500124, NSE: DRREDDY, NYSE: RDY). Aurigene is focused on precision- oncology, oral immune checkpoint inhibitors, and the Th-17 pathway. Aurigene currently has several programs from its pipeline in clinical development. Aurigene’s ROR-gamma inverse agonist AUR-101 is currently in phase 2 clinical development under a US FDA IND. Additionally, Aurigene has multiple compounds at different stages of pre-clinical development. Aurigene has partnered with many large and mid-pharma companies in the United States and Europe and has 15 programs  currently in clinical development. For more information, please visit Aurigene’s website at https://www.aurigene.com/