WATERTOWN, Mass., Nov. 06, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- C4 Therapeutics, Inc. (C4T) (Nasdaq: CCCC), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to advancing targeted protein degradation science, today announced its partner Betta Pharmaceuticals has dosed the first patient in the Phase 1 clinical trial of CFT8919, an orally bioavailable allosteric degrader of EGFR L858R for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), in Greater China.

“We are pleased to see CFT8919, our fourth small molecule degrader to enter the clinic, begin the journey through clinical development in Greater China with our partner Betta Pharmaceuticals,” said Len Reyno, M.D., chief medical officer of C4 Therapeutics. “CFT8919 may offer an exciting advancement in treating non-small cell lung cancer driven by an EGFR mutation, which is currently treated with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) that offer a less durable response for patients with the EGFR L858R driver mutation than those with other driver mutations. We, along with our partner Betta Pharmaceuticals, believe CFT8919 may offer a novel targeted therapy for patients and physicians searching for treatment options.”

C4T designed CFT8919 to be potent and selective against EGFR bearing an oncogenic L858R mutation and capable of overcoming common EGFR secondary mutations that render patients refractory to EGFR TKIs. The EGFR mutation is particularly common in NSCLC patients of Asian heritage. In China, where approximately 693,000 patients are diagnosed with NSCLC annually, approximately 50 percent of diagnoses are driven by the EGFR mutation. The EGFR L858R mutation is the second most common EGFR mutation, found in approximately 40 percent of patients diagnosed with an EGFR mutation in the U.S. and China.

In 2023, C4T and Betta Pharmaceuticals entered into a strategic collaboration to develop, manufacture and commercialize CFT8919 in Greater China, including Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR and Taiwan. Under the terms of the agreement, C4T is eligible for up to $357 million in potential milestones plus royalties on net sales. C4T retains development and commercialization rights for CFT8919 in the United States, European Union and rest of the world.

About CFT8919

CFT8919 is an orally bioavailable allosteric BiDAC™ degrader that is designed to be potent and selective against EGFR bearing an oncogenic L858R mutation. In preclinical studies, CFT8919 is active in in vitro and in vivo models of L858R driven non-small cell lung cancer. Importantly, CFT8919 retains full activity against additional EGFR mutations that confer resistance against approved EGFR inhibitors including L858R-C797S, L858R-T790M, and L858R-T790M-C797S.

About C4 Therapeutics

C4 Therapeutics (C4T) (Nasdaq: CCCC) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to delivering on the promise of targeted protein degradation science to create a new generation of medicines that transforms patients’ lives. C4T is progressing targeted oncology programs through clinical studies and leveraging its TORPEDO^® platform to efficiently design and optimize small-molecule medicines to address difficult-to-treat diseases. C4T’s degrader medicines are designed to harness the body’s natural protein recycling system to rapidly degrade disease-causing proteins, offering the potential to overcome drug resistance, drug undruggable targets and improve patient outcomes. For more information, please visit www.c4therapeutics.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” of C4 Therapeutics, Inc. within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may include, but may not be limited to, express or implied statements regarding our ability to develop potential therapies for patients; the design and potential efficacy of our therapeutic approaches; our ability to achieve milestones and receive potential royalty payments from our collaboration partner, Betta Pharmaceuticals; and our ability to fund our future operations. Any forward-looking statements in this press release are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: uncertainties related to the initiation, timing, advancement and conduct of preclinical and clinical studies and other development requirements for our product candidates; the risk that any one or more of our product candidates will cost more to develop or may not be successfully developed and commercialized; and the risk that sufficient capital to fund our future operations will be available to us on acceptable terms or at the times required. For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, and other important factors, any of which could cause our actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see the section entitled “Risk Factors” in C4 Therapeutics’ most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and/or Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and C4 Therapeutics undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law.

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