Biotech Company Curis Announces $30 Million Common Stock Purchase with Aspire Capital Fund to Continue the Development of Therapeutics for the Treatment of Cancer

Curis, a biotechnology company focused on the development of innovative therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, today announced that it has entered into a common stock purchase agreement of up to $30 million with Aspire Capital Fund. Under the terms of the Agreement, Aspire Capital has made an initial investment of $3 million via purchase of 2,693,965 common shares of Curis.

In addition, Aspire Capital has committed to purchasing up to $27 million of common shares of Curis, at Curis’ request from time to time during a 30-month period at prices based on the market price at the time of each sale, subject to certain limits. There are no warrants, derivatives, or other share classes associated with this Agreement. Curis will control the timing and amount of the further sale of its common shares to Aspire Capital.

“We are excited to enter into this transaction with Aspire Capital, a long-term, healthcare-focused institutional investor,” said James Dentzer, President and Chief Executive Officer of Curis. “This facility is expected to provide us with a flexible, efficient capital source to advance the clinical development of our novel, targeted cancer therapeutics, including fimepinostat, a small molecule dual inhibitor of PI3K/HDAC and suppressor of MYC; CA-4948, an IRAK4 kinase inhibitor and first in class suppressor of the TLR pathway and CI-8993, a first in class VISTA antagonist.”

“Curis’ pipeline of novel, targeted cancer therapies and immunotherapies, bolstered by the recent addition of CI-8993, addresses therapeutics areas with significant unmet medical need and patient burden,” stated Steven G. Martin, Managing Member of Aspire Capital Partners, LLC. “Aspire is pleased to support Curis at this transformational time and looks forward to this long-term partnership with the Curis team.”

Proceeds will be used by Curis for general corporate purposes, including research and development, clinical trial activity and working capital. There are no restrictions on future financings and there are no financial covenants, participation rights, rights of first refusal, or penalties in the Agreement. Curis has the right to terminate the Agreement at any time without any additional cost or penalty.

As consideration for Aspire Capital’s obligation under the Agreement, Curis issued 646,551 common shares to Aspire Capital as a commitment fee. Curis also entered into a Registration Rights Agreement with Aspire Capital in connection with its entry into the Agreement. A complete and detailed description of the Agreement and the related Registration Rights Agreement is set forth in Curis’ Current Report on the Form 8-K filed today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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.