Erasca rejects patent 12,409,225 infringement allegation in April letter from Revolution Medicines
Key Facts
Erasca rejected allegations by Revolution Medicines that its drug candidate ERAS-0015 infringes U.S. patent 12,409,225, according to its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company received the letter from its rival's legal counsel on April 24, 2026, and disclosed it in a filing dated April 27, 2026. The patent infringement allegation is based on the doctrine of equivalents, according to Erasca's description of the claims in the letter. The company called the allegations "baseless" and said it intends to vigorously defend against them. Revolution Medicines confirmed in its quarterly SEC filing that it sent Erasca a letter in April 2026 alleging intellectual property violations. The claims concern a drug candidate Erasca is developing and plans to take into a pivotal trial for pancreatic cancer.
The letter also accuses a third party of misappropriating alleged Revolution Medicines trade secrets, according to Erasca's quarterly filing. The rival alleges that Erasca is liable as the drug candidate's licensee. It also accused Erasca of making improper comparisons in its public disclosures between preclinical data for ERAS-0015 and Revolution Medicines' candidate RMC-6236. It requested that Erasca cease making, using, offering for sale, selling and importing ERAS-0015 in the United States for purposes outside the statutory exemption known as Hatch-Waxman. The request to cease these activities applies to uses outside that protection, according to Erasca's quarterly filing published in August. In that filing, Erasca continued to describe a lawsuit by Revolution Medicines as a future possibility.
Regarding its own rights to the program, Erasca announced that it had obtained U.S. patent 12,458,647, titled "Macrocyclic Derivative and Uses Thereof." In its patent announcement, the company said the protection covers the composition of matter of ERAS-0015, as well as related compositions. The company identified September 2043 as the expiration date for the announced protection of these compositions under the patent. It added that the term is subject to potential adjustments or extensions, according to its announcement. On licensing, Erasca expanded its agreement with Joyo Pharmatech to include China, Hong Kong and Macau. In its annual business update, it said adding these markets to the ERAS-0015 licensing agreement gave it worldwide rights to the drug candidate.
ERAS-0015 works by forming a complex that brings together the RAS protein and cyclophilin A, according to Erasca's description of its drug programs. This complex is intended to prevent RAS from binding to the proteins that transmit its signals within the cell, according to the mechanism outlined by the company. On the regulatory front, Erasca announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had granted the candidate Fast Track designation. The designation covers ERAS-0015 for the treatment of patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma, according to its regulatory update filed with the SEC. The company said in the same update that "Fast Track designation does not change the standards for approval." Erasca also plans to develop the candidate as a first-line treatment for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
On the financial front, Erasca held about $384.3 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of June 30, 2026, according to its financial results. That compares with $341.8 million as of December 31, 2025, according to figures the company reported in its second-quarter results. The reported balance includes marketable securities alongside cash and cash equivalents. In a separate announcement on the closing of an upsized public offering, Erasca said gross proceeds totaled about $632.5 million. It said the amount represents offering proceeds before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions associated with the transaction. The reported proceeds are also before deducting other offering expenses, according to the closing announcement.
On upcoming program milestones, Erasca scheduled an oral presentation on ERAS-0015 for Friday, November 20, at 12:30 p.m. Central European Time. It said the presentation would cover safety, pharmacokinetics and efficacy results from the AURORAS-1 study. The company subsequently expects to report additional data on the candidate as a monotherapy in the first half of 2027, according to its clinical development update. The anticipated readout also includes data on its use in combination treatments, including with panitumumab. On upcoming trials, Erasca plans to initiate a pivotal Phase 3 trial in 2027. The planned trial will evaluate ERAS-0015 as a first-line treatment for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, according to the company's announced development timeline.