Erasca Inc

We are a clinical-stage precision oncology company singularly focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing therapies for patients with RAS/MAPK pathway-driven cancers. Molecular alterations in RAS, the most frequently mutated oncogene, and the MAPK pathway, one of the most frequently altered signaling pathways in cancer, account for more than five million new patients diagnosed with cancer globally each year. Our company was co-founded by leading pioneers in precision oncology and RAS targeting to create novel therapies and combination regimens designed to comprehensively shut down the RAS/MAPK pathway for the treatment of patients with cancer. Our focused RAS/MAPK pathway pipeline comprises modality-agnostic programs aligned with our three therapeutic strategies of: (1) targeting key upstream and downstream signaling nodes in the RAS/MAPK pathway; (2) targeting RAS directly; and (3) targeting escape routes that emerge in response to treatment. Our pipeline enables us to pursue a systematic, data-driven, portfolio-wide clinical development effort to identify therapeutic approaches with the goal of prolonging survival in numerous patient populations with high unmet medical needs.

Our modality-agnostic approach aims to allow us to selectively and potently target critical signaling nodes with the most appropriate modality, including small and large molecule therapeutics. Our purpose-built pipeline includes two clinical-stage programs (ERAS-0015, a pan-RAS molecular glue; and ERAS-4001, a pan-KRAS inhibitor), and ERAS-12, a discovery-stage program (an EGFR D2/D3 biparatopic antibody), for which we have identified a lead candidate. We believe our world-class team’s capabilities and experience, further guided by our scientific advisory board (SAB), which includes the world’s leading experts in the RAS/MAPK pathway, uniquely position us to achieve our bold mission of erasing cancer.

Of the more than five million new patients diagnosed globally per year with cancers driven by RAS/MAPK pathway molecular alterations, most have limited or no targeted therapy treatment options. While the RAS/MAPK pathway has been well characterized and validated based on multiple compounds approved or in development targeting discrete signaling nodes in the cascade, most of these compounds face resistance and tolerability challenges, highlighting the need for new approaches to target this pathway. We believe that to effectively shut down a pathway that signals as promiscuously as RAS/MAPK, 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.

1. Target upstream and downstream MAPK pathway nodes with single agents and combinations intended to clamp these oncogenic drivers. We are 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. For example, we are exploring ERAS-0015 in combination with an anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody for the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.