UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM
CURRENT REPORT
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| Item 5.02 | Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers. |
(d)
On July 28, 2021, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Kura Oncology, Inc. (the “Company”), upon recommendation of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board, appointed Helen Collins, M.D. as a Class II director of the Company, with a term of office expiring at the 2022 annual meeting of stockholders. There are no arrangements or understandings between Dr. Collins and any other person pursuant to which she was selected as a director. In addition, there are no transactions in which Dr. Collins has an interest that would require disclosure under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.
Pursuant to the Company’s Amended and Restated Non-Employee Director Compensation Policy (the “Compensation Policy”), Dr. Collins (i) will receive an annual cash retainer of $40,000 for service on the Board, and (ii) was granted on the date of her appointment an option to purchase (a) 46,000 shares of the Company’s common stock, which vests annually over a three year period, and (b) 19,166 shares of the Company’s common stock, which vests in full on the one year anniversary of the date of grant. The Compensation Policy also provides for further automatic annual option grants to purchase 23,000 shares of the Company’s common stock on the date of each annual meeting of stockholders, which vest in full on the one year anniversary of the date of grant. Each of the option grants described above will vest in full in the event of a change in control (as defined in the Company’s Amended and Restated 2014 Equity Incentive Plan). Dr. Collins has also entered into the Company’s standard form of Indemnification Agreement.
The Company issued a press release announcing the appointment of Dr. Collins, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated herein by reference.
| Item 9.01 | Financial Statements and Exhibits. |
(d) Exhibits
| Exhibit Number |
Description | |
| 99.1 | Press Release dated July 29, 2021. | |
| 104 | Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document). | |
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
| Date: July 29, 2021 | KURA ONCOLOGY, INC. | |||||
| By: | /s/ Marc Grasso, M.D. | |||||
| Marc Grasso, M.D. | ||||||
| Chief Financial Officer and Chief Business Officer | ||||||
Exhibit 99.1
Kura Oncology Appoints Helen Collins, M.D. to Board of Directors
SAN DIEGO, July 29, 2021 – Kura Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq: KURA), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to realizing the promise of precision medicines for the treatment of cancer, today announced the appointment of industry veteran Helen Collins, M.D., to its board of directors. Dr. Collins served as Chief Medical Officer at Five Prime Therapeutics, where she oversaw the development of bemarituzumab, a first-in-class anti-FGFR2b antibody for the treatment of patients with gastric cancer.
“With a deep background in medical oncology/hematology and significant experience leading clinical development programs targeting cancers of high unmet need, Helen brings a valuable perspective to the board as we continue to advance our pipeline of precision medicines,” said Troy Wilson, Ph.D., J.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Kura Oncology. “On behalf of Kura Oncology and our board of directors, we want to welcome her to the board and look forward to drawing upon her strategic and clinical acumen as we work to fulfill our mission of bringing new treatment options to patients.”
Dr. Collins joins the Kura board of directors with more than 25 years of medical experience. Most recently, she served as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Five Prime Therapeutics, where she was responsible for the strategy and execution of the company’s clinical development plans until its acquisition by Amgen in April 2021. Previously, Dr. Collins held positions of increasing responsibility at Gilead Sciences, most recently as Program and Clinical Lead for Gilead’s GS-5829 (BET inhibitor) and GS-4059 (BTK inhibitor) programs, and Amgen, most recently as Global Lead of Oncology Biosimilars. Prior to her career in the biopharma industry, Dr. Collins practiced as a medical oncologist/hematologist for 12 years. She earned her MD from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, completing her residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital and oncology fellowship at Stanford University School of Medicine, and her B.A. from Bryn Mawr College.
“I’m pleased to join the Kura board of directors as the company continues to build on the strong foundation of its clinical and preclinical pipeline,” said Dr. Collins. “I am impressed by the preliminary data from the menin inhibitor program, KO-539, in acute myeloid leukemia, as well as the broad therapeutic potential of the tipifarnib program, and I look forward to contributing to their continued progress and success.”
About Kura Oncology
Kura Oncology is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to realizing the promise of precision medicines for the treatment of cancer. The Company’s pipeline consists of small molecule drug candidates that target cancer signaling pathways. KO-539, a potent and selective menin inhibitor, is currently in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial (KOMET-001) and targeting patients with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia, including patients with NPM1 mutations. Tipifarnib, a potent, selective and orally bioavailable farnesyl transferase inhibitor, has received Breakthrough Therapy Designation for the treatment of patients with HRAS mutant head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and is currently in a registration-directed study (AIM-HN) in patients with this devastating disease. In addition, Kura is pursuing the use of tipifarnib in combination with other oncology therapeutics to address larger genetic subsets, including patients who have HRAS and/or PIK3CA-dependent HNSCC. The Company is also developing a next-generation farnesyl transferase inhibitor, which is intended to target innovative biology and larger oncology indications through rational combinations. For additional information about Kura, please visit the Company’s website at www.kuraoncology.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains certain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include statements regarding, among other things, the efficacy, safety and therapeutic potential of Kura’s drug candidates, tipifarnib and KO-539, progress and expected timing of Kura’s drug development programs and clinical trials and submission of regulatory filings, the presentation of data from clinical trials, plans regarding regulatory filings and future clinical trials, the regulatory approval path for tipifarnib, the strength of Kura’s balance sheet and the adequacy of cash on hand. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially include the risk that compounds that appeared promising in early research or clinical trials do not demonstrate safety and/or efficacy in later preclinical studies or clinical trials, the risk that Kura may not obtain approval to market its drug candidates, uncertainties associated with performing clinical trials, regulatory filings, applications and other interactions with regulatory bodies, the risks associated with reliance on third parties to successfully conduct clinical trials, the risks associated with reliance on outside financing to meet capital requirements, the risks associated with the COVID-19 global pandemic, and other risks associated with the process of discovering, developing and commercializing drugs that are safe and effective for use as human therapeutics, and in the endeavor of building a business around such drugs. You are urged to consider statements that include the words “may,” “will,” “would,” “could,” “should,” “believes,” “estimates,” “projects,” “promise,” “potential,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “continues,” “designed,” “goal,” or the negative of those words or other comparable words to be uncertain and forward-looking. For a further list and
description of the risks and uncertainties the Company faces, please refer to the Company’s periodic and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at www.sec.gov. Such forward-looking statements are current only as of the date they are made, and Kura assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contacts
Company:
Pete De Spain
Vice President, Investor Relations &
Corporate Communications
(858) 500-8803
pete@kuraoncology.com
Investors:
Robert H. Uhl
Managing Director
Westwicke ICR
(858) 356-5932
robert.uhl@westwicke.com
Media:
Jason Spark
Managing Director
Canale Communications
(619) 849-6005
jason@canalecomm.com