Ikena Oncology, Inc. announced that the Company will present two virtual posters at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics taking place October 7-10, 2021. Both presentations highlight the potential of inhibitors of the transcription factor TEAD, a key mediator of Hippo pathway signaling, in cancer treatment. Ikena’s lead TEAD inhibitor candidate, IK-930, is designed to bind to and disrupt TEAD-dependent transcription for treating multiple difficult-to-treat tumor types harboring mutations in the Hippo pathway. The conference presentations will highlight the Hippo pathway and TEAD’s role in tumor growth and therapeutic resistance, and IK-930’s potential as a monotherapy and in combination with EGFR and MEK inhibitors. Marta Sanchez-Martin, Ph.D., Principal Scientist, Translational Research, at Ikena, will discuss how the Company used a systems biology approach, integrating genomic, transcriptional, tissue-based and pharmacological profiling to identify NF2-deficient mesothelioma as the most relevant indication for clinical development of Ikena’s TEAD inhibitor as a monotherapy. A unique comprehensive set of bioinformatic and proprietary immunohistochemical analyses identified additional clinical opportunities for TEAD inhibitors as a monotherapy and in combination with other agents for a variety of cancer types, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and soft tissue sarcoma, and supports a biomarker-driven approach for identifying ideal combination treatments leveraging TEAD inhibitors. Data presented by Ben Amidon, Ph.D., Senior Director of Biology at Ikena, further supports the potential of IK-930 as a potent and selective TEAD inhibitor, both as a monotherapy in mesothelioma, and in combination with other agents in NSCLC and CRC. IK-930 showed promise as a single agent both in vitro and in vivo in Hippo dysregulated mesothelioma and further potential when combined with EGFR and MEK inhibitors in KRAS mutant cancers, including lung and colon cancer, enhancing apoptosis and anti-tumor activity. Full presentations will be available on-demand as part of the conference from October 7-10.