LEXINGTON, Mass., May 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRIS), a biotechnology company focused on the development of innovative therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, today announced that the Board of Directors of Curis approved the grant of inducement stock options to its newly appointed Chief Development Officer, Jonathan B. Zung, Ph.D. to purchase a total of 500,000 shares of Curis common stock, with a grant date of May 1, 2023 (the "Inducement Grant").

The Inducement Grant has an exercise price per share equal to the closing price of the Company's common stock on May 1, 2023.  The Inducement Grant has a 10 year term and vests over four years, with 25% of the original number of shares underlying the award vesting on the first anniversary of Dr. Zung's start date and an additional 6.25% of the original number of shares underlying the award vesting on each successive three-month period thereafter, subject to Dr. Zung's continued service with the Company through the respective vesting dates.  Dr. Zung's stock option was granted as an inducement equity award outside of the Company's Fourth Amended and Restated 2010 Stock Incentive Plan and was made as an inducement material to his acceptance of employment with the Company.

About Curis, Inc.

Curis is a biotechnology company focused on the development of innovative therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. 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, emavusertib (CA-4948). Emavusertib is currently undergoing testing in the Phase 1/2 TakeAim Lymphoma trial, in patients with hematologic malignancies, such as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and other B cell malignancies, both as a monotherapy and in combination with BTK inhibitor ibrutinib, and the Phase 1/2 TakeAim Leukemia trial in patients with acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome, for which it has received Orphan Drug Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA has placed a partial clinical hold on the TakeAim Leukemia trial during which no new patients will be enrolled in the monotherapy expansion phase (Phase 2a) or the combination phase (Phase 1b) of emavusertib with azacitidine or venetoclax. 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's website at www.curis.com.