Kinnate Biopharma Inc. announced continued advancement of the company's ongoing clinical trial, KN-8701, to include patients with NRAS-mutant melanoma and planned 2022 milestones for its product candidates, including KIN-2787, an orally available small molecule pan-RAF inhibitor being developed for the treatment of patients with lung cancer, melanoma, and other solid tumors. The company also updated its cash position as of December 31, 2021. NRAS-mutant melanoma is an adjacent population to RAF-driven solid tumors where signaling is highly CRAF-dependent.

Approved BRAF inhibitors that target BRAF Class I alterations are not effective in NRAS-mutant melanoma. Currently there is no approved targeted therapy approved for this population. The company's preclinical data supports development of KIN-2787 in combination with binimetinib in NRAS-mutant melanoma.

In vitro data indicates meaningful and synergistic combination benefit of KIN-2787 with binimetinib in NRAS-mutant melanoma cells. in vivo xenograft models of NRAS-mutant melanoma, treatment with KIN-2787 in combination with binimetinib was well tolerated and resulted in significant tumor growth inhibition, including tumor regressions at clinically relevant twice-daily (BID) doses of KIN-2787 and binimetinib, respectively. The addition of NRAS-mutant melanoma patients meaningfully expands the potential market opportunity for KIN-2787 as the NRAS-mutant melanoma population represents approximately 25% of advanced and metastatic melanoma patients and is largely discrete from those melanoma patients with BRAF Class I, II or III alteration-driven disease.