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KURA Stock Rises More Than 15% This Past Week: Here's Why

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Key Takeaways

  • KURA shares surged after FDA accepted its NDA for ziftomenib in NPM1-mutant acute myeloid leukemia.
  • The NDA was backed by a phase II study showing significant remission rates and tolerable safety data.
  • A $45M milestone from Kyowa Kirin was triggered upon NDA submission for ziftomenib in Q2 2025.

Shares of Kura Oncology (KURA - Free Report) have rallied 15.5% in the past week against the industry’s decline of 0.1%. Earlier this week, the FDA accepted the company’s new drug application (NDA) seeking full approval for ziftomenib as a treatment for adult patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a nucleophosmin 1 (NPM1) mutation.

With the FDA granting a priority review to the NDA, a decision from the regulatory body is expected on Nov. 30, 2025.

Per management, a potential nod would make ziftomenib the first menin inhibitor to be approved for the treatment of R/R NPM1-mutant AML.

This can be attributed to the reason for the stock price increase during the aforementioned time.

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More on KURA's Development Activities With ziftomenib

The company’s lead product candidate, ziftomenib, is an investigational oral menin inhibitor, which is being developed for treating genetically defined subsets of acute leukemias, including AML and acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Kura Oncology entered into an agreement with Japan-based pharmaceutical company Kyowa Kirin to develop and commercialize ziftomenib for AML and other hematologic malignancies in November 2024.

The NDA for ziftomenib was based on data from the phase II KOMET-001 registrational study. The study met its primary endpoint of complete remission (CR) plus CR with partial blood recovery, and this result was statistically significant. The safety and tolerability of ziftomenib were similar to that seen in previous reports.

The NDA was submitted in the second quarter of 2025, which triggered a milestone payment of $45 million for KURA under the company’s agreement with Kyowa Kirin.

The FDA has already granted Breakthrough Therapy designation, Fast Track designation and Orphan Drug designation to ziftomenib for the treatment of R/R NPM1-mutant AML.

Besides AML, ziftomenib in combination with imatinib is being developed in an early-stage study for the treatment of patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors after imatinib failure.

KURA's Other Pipeline Updates

The company is developing its next-generation farnesyl transferase inhibitor (FTI), KO-2806, both as a monotherapy and in combination with other therapies, in an early-stage study for various types of solid tumors.

Kura Oncology is also developing another FTI, tipifarnib, in combination with alpelisib in a phase I/II study for patients with PIK3CA-dependent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Data from these studies are expected to be presented later in 2025.

Ziftomenib is nearing a potential FDA nod and some clinical milestones are expected later in the year. This should help KURA maintain the momentum and drive the stock in 2025.

KURA's Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Kura Oncology currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the biotech sector are Amarin (AMRN - Free Report) , Lexicon Pharmaceuticals (LXRX - Free Report) and Chemomab Therapeutics (CMMB - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

In the past 60 days, estimates for Amarin’s loss per share have narrowed from $5.00 to $2.78 for 2025. During the same time, loss per share estimates for 2026 have narrowed from $3.87 to $2.04. Year to date, shares of AMRN have rallied 22.2%.

AMRN’s earnings beat estimates in two of the trailing four quarters, matched once and missed the same on the remaining occasion, delivering an average surprise of 29.11%.

In the past 60 days, estimates for Lexicon’s loss per share have narrowed from 37 cents to 32 cents for 2025. During the same time, loss per share estimates for 2026 have narrowed from 35 cents to 31 cents. Year to date, shares of LXRX have lost 2.9%.

LXRX’s earnings beat estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed the same on the remaining occasion, delivering an average surprise of 11.97%.

In the past 60 days, estimates for Chemomab Therapeutics’ loss per share have narrowed from 70 cents to 60 cents for 2025. During the same time, loss per share estimates for 2026 have narrowed from 80 cents to 70 cents. Year to date, shares of CMMB have declined 27.9%.

CMMB’s earnings beat estimates in two of the trailing four quarters, matched once and missed the same on the remaining occasion, delivering an average surprise of 5.00%.

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