Curis (NASDAQ:CRIS) said it continued to advance its lead clinical programs during the first quarter of 2026, with management highlighting progress in studies of emavusertib for primary central nervous system lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, while also reporting a wider quarterly net loss tied largely to warrant accounting from a recent financing.
On the company’s first-quarter business update call, President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Dentzer said Curis is continuing enrollment in its Take Aim Lymphoma study in primary CNS lymphoma, or PCNSL, which he described as “one of the most rare and most difficult to treat” non-Hodgkin lymphoma subtypes.
Curis expects to provide updated clinical data from the Take Aim Lymphoma combination study in relapsed or refractory PCNSL in the first half of 2027, Dentzer said.
PCNSL Enrollment Remains “On Track,” CEO Says
During the question-and-answer portion of the call, analysts asked for more detail on the timing and nature of the expected 2027 update. Dentzer said Curis hopes to be in a position to be fully enrolled in the study in 2027 and expects a “substantial update on enrollment” in the first half of that year.
He cautioned that enrollment in an ultra-orphan indication can be uneven from month to month.
“There are just, frankly, not a lot of those patients around,” Dentzer said. “We will go, as we have in the past, some months where we don’t have any patients, then some months where we get 2 or 3.”
Still, he said the study remains on track when viewed over time. “As we take a step back and we say, not on any given month, are we on track to hit our enrollment targets in time for a disclosure, first half of 2027? I’d say yes,” Dentzer said.
Curis Advances CLL Proof-of-Concept Study
Dentzer also discussed Curis’ plans to expand emavusertib into additional non-Hodgkin lymphoma subtypes, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or CLL. He said key opinion leaders have been supportive of exploring whether emavusertib could improve on the current standard of care in CLL, where BTK inhibitors have become widely used.
Dentzer said BTK inhibitors can help patients achieve objective responses, but those are typically partial responses rather than complete remissions, which may require patients to remain on treatment chronically. He said Curis aims to test whether adding emavusertib to a BTK inhibitor regimen could produce deeper responses, including complete remission or undetectable minimal residual disease, and potentially enable time-limited treatment.
The company is running a proof-of-concept study in patients receiving BTK inhibitor monotherapy who have achieved partial remission but have not reached complete remission or undetectable MRD. Dentzer said Curis anticipates dosing the initial five patients in the Take Aim CLL combination study with zanubrutinib by mid-2026 and expects initial data in December.
Asked how many patients had been dosed so far, Dentzer declined to provide patient-by-patient updates, saying the company is “very, very confident” it is on track. He said the process of activating sites and consenting patients is proceeding as expected, with an update anticipated around midsummer.
Management Outlines CLL Differentiation
In response to an analyst question about dosing and safety, Dentzer said Curis expects to include data on both 100 mg and 200 mg doses in regulatory submissions, based on discussions with FDA and EMA. He said he does not anticipate “a whole lot of question about safety” between those doses, noting that emavusertib has previously been dosed as high as 500 mg.
“I think the safety profile should be manageable at both,” Dentzer said, adding that Curis is seeking to confirm 200 mg as the best starting dose while allowing dose adjustments as needed.
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ahmed Hamdy said the unmet need in CLL remains achieving treatment-free remission. He said many patients do not achieve complete response or MRD negativity on BTK inhibitor monotherapy, limiting the ability to stop treatment.
Hamdy said the rationale for combining emavusertib with a BTK inhibitor is to more profoundly inhibit NF-?B signaling, which he described as a driver of the disease. He also said Curis has previously combined emavusertib with ibrutinib and “has not seen any additive toxicities or bone marrow suppression.”
When asked what activity Curis hopes to see in the initial CLL patients, Hamdy said the company is looking for deepening responses in patients already in partial remission on zanubrutinib, including movement toward complete remission and undetectable MRD. Dentzer added that, in the early stage of the study, Curis wants to see patients who had plateaued on zanubrutinib begin to reduce their disease burden after emavusertib is added.
Gastroesophageal Cancer Data Noted
Dentzer also referenced initial clinical data presented in January by collaborator Dr. Patrick Grierson of the Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University in St. Louis at the ASCO GI Cancers Symposium. The study evaluated emavusertib in combination with FOLFOX and an anti-PD-1 therapy, with or without Herceptin, as first-line therapy for metastatic or unresectable gastroesophageal cancers.
Dentzer said the poster included results for 16 evaluable patients and showed a “manageable toxicity profile” along with “encouraging preliminary results.” He did not provide additional efficacy figures on the call.
First-Quarter Financial Results
Chief Financial Officer Diantha Duvall said Curis reported a net loss of $24.2 million, or $1.25 per share, for the first quarter of 2026, compared with a net loss of $10.6 million, or $1.25 per share, in the same period of 2025. She said the increased net loss was primarily due to a change in the fair value of warrant liabilities associated with the company’s January 2026 PIPE financing.
- Research and development expenses: $6.4 million in the first quarter of 2026, down from $8.5 million a year earlier, primarily due to lower employee-related and manufacturing costs.
- General and administrative expenses: $5.1 million, up from $4.0 million a year earlier, primarily due to expenses associated with the January 2026 PIPE financing, partially offset by lower employee-related costs.
- Cash and cash equivalents: $15 million as of March 31, 2026.
Duvall said Curis’ cash balance, together with anticipated gross proceeds of up to an additional $20.2 million from the exercise of Series B warrants tied to the January 2026 PIPE financing upon the public announcement of dosing the fifth CLL patient, should fund planned operations into the second half of 2027.
Asked about a potential commercial partnership for the company’s AML program, Dentzer said Curis is not pursuing one “yet.” He said the January financing allows the company to keep advancing the PCNSL program and add the CLL study, while a next step in AML would be a registrational study.
“At some point in time, could a partnership make sense? Absolutely,” Dentzer said. “Right now, our goal is to use the resources from the financing that we’ve gained to continue to push forward, both on the registrational study and on the new study in CLL.”
About Curis (NASDAQ:CRIS)
Curis, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of targeted small molecule and antibody therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. The company’s research centers on exploiting key signaling pathways and tumor microenvironment interactions to develop compounds with the potential to address unmet medical needs. Curis’ proprietary pipeline includes multiple programs at various stages of clinical and preclinical development, reflecting its emphasis on innovative oncology drug candidates.
Among Curis’ lead assets is CA-4948, an oral inhibitor of interleukin-1 receptor–associated kinase 4 (IRAK4) partnered with Ikena Oncology, which is being evaluated in hematologic malignancies and solid tumors.
