Company: ERAS
Filing Date: 2025-03-20
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000950170-25-042682
Chunk: 1

Company: Erasca, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-03-20
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 1
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APK, a holistic approach must be taken to target not just individual nodes, but multiple nodes and cooperative mechanisms in parallel. As depicted in the following figure and described below, we are pursuing three therapeutic strategies that may be used in combination with the goal of comprehensively, and perhaps synergistically, shutting down the RAS/MAPK pathway.

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1.Target upstream and downstream MAPK pathway nodes with single agents and combinations intended to clamp these oncogenic drivers. Our lead product candidate, naporafenib, targets RAF, a key node of the RAS/MAPK pathway. We are developing naporafenib in combination with trametinib (MEKINIST) (MEK inhibitor) and other targeted therapies to delay emergence of resistance in response to RAS/MAPK pathway inhibition. We are also evaluating drug combinations targeting upstream and downstream nodes to shut down, or “clamp,” the signaling of various oncogenic drivers, such as receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), NF1, RAS, RAF, and MEK alterations, trapped between the inhibited nodes. We refer to this approach as a "MAPKlamp." With this MAPKlamp approach, we hope to induce tumor regression in RAS/MAPK pathway-driven cancers, while also blocking the in-pathway escape routes that lead to tumor resistance.

2.Target RAS, the midstream MAPK pathway node, directly with single agents and combinations. Our RAS-targeting franchise, ERAS-0015 and ERAS-4001, consists of molecules that are designed to potently and selectively bind to oncogenic RAS alterations (e.g., G12X, G13X +/- Q61X) and to block activation of wildtype RAS isoforms that mediate tumor resistance. These molecules are designed to prevent RAS-mediated signaling either by preventing RAS from binding to downstream effector proteins by forming a RAS-Cyclophilin A protein complex (as in the case of ERAS-0015) or by locking KRAS in the inactive GDP-bound state (as in the case of ERAS-4001).

3.Target escape routes enabled by other proteins or pathways to further disrupt RAS/MAPK pathway signaling. RAS-driven cancers utilize escape routes, namely cooperative mechanisms, to develop resistance to targeted therapies. By shutting down these potential escape routes, we aim to provide more robust inhibition of oncogenic signaling.

To pursue these therapeutic strategies, we have assembled and are developing one of the deepest pipelines targeting multiple signaling