Kinases in Cancer
Kinases play an important role in regulating cellular functions and the communication of cells with their environments. When dysregulated, kinases contribute to the development and progression of diseases including cancer and inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Kinase inhibitors are an important class of therapeutics with 34 kinase inhibitor drugs approved in the United States. Despite the success of kinase inhibitors as a drug class, the therapeutic potential of individual kinase inhibitors has been limited by the development of drug resistance and by poor potency and selectivity profiles that lead to off-target toxicities or diminished efficacy. In addition, currently approved kinase inhibitors target fewer than 10% of the over 500 known human kinases. We believe there is a substantial opportunity to develop novel kinase inhibitor therapies.