The Massachusetts biotech will focus its efforts and resources into cemsidomide, an oral drug candidate being trialed for multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
C4 Therapeutics will no longer pour money into its investigational BRAF inhibitor CFT1946, in the name of “strategic capital allocation,” the biotech announced Wednesday.
Instead, C4 will focus its efforts and resources on its multiple myeloma drug candidate cemsidomide, while looking for development partners that can “advance the BRAF program given the high unmet need and strong degrader rationale for treating BRAF V600 mutant solid tumors.”
Before being put on the backburner, CFT1946 had a Phase I readout last September, which demonstrated that the drug candidate had an encouraging pharmacokinetic and safety profile, according to the company.
These early results underscored the potential of CFT1946 to “disrupt the current treatment landscape” in these specific solid tumors, CEO Andrew Hirsch said at the time. BRAF is a signaling protein that frequently carries a V600 mutation in a variety of cancer types.
Data from a Phase I dose-escalation study of CFT1946 in patients with melanoma or colorectal cancer will be presented at an upcoming scientific congress, according to C4’s press announcement on Wednesday.
C4 announced its decision to put CFT1946 on ice alongside its first-quarter earnings report. In the first three months of 2025, the biotech recorded a net loss of $26.3 million, a slight improvement from its $28.4 million deficit during the same period last year. By the end of Q1, C4 had $234.7 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, enough to keep it afloat into 2027.
The Massachusetts-based biotech will now focus its efforts and resources on cemsidomide, an experimental oral degrader of IKZF1/3 transcription factors being trialed for multiple myeloma. According to C4, Phase I data for the drug candidate suggest a “compelling” response profile for cemsidomide in this indication, hitting an overall response rate of 50% as of an April 30 data cutoff.
C4 plans to wrap up the Phase I dose-escalation trial for cemsidomide and present its data by the third quarter.
Aside from multiple myeloma, C4 is also studying cemsidomide in non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, for which it is also conducting Phase I dose-escalation analyses. The biotech is building up to a readout in this indication by year-end. C4 is awaiting certain “regulatory feedback” regarding cemsidomide’s registrational development, which it expects to receive by mid-year.
