Calithera (CALA) Initiates Phase I/II Study Of Telaglenastat

Calithera Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALA) initiated a phase I/II open-label study of the glutaminase inhibitor, telaglenastat (CB-839) in combination with Pfizer’s (NYSE:PFE) poly adenosine diphosphate ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, talazoparib, also known as Talzenna, in patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors.

Telaglenastat is an investigational, novel glutaminase inhibitor, specifically designed to block glutamine consumption in tumor cells.

The phase I/II study (NCT03875313) will evaluate the safety and efficacy of the combination in patients with locally advanced/metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC), triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) and colorectal cancer (CRC) that are refractory or intolerant to standard therapies.

Shares of the company have dipped 7.1% in the past year compared with the industry’s decline of 13.5%.

In October 2018, Calithera entered into a collaboration agreement with Pfizer to evaluate telaglenastat in two studies. The first study is a combination of telaglenastat and Talzenna, and the second one is a combination of telaglenastat and palbociclib, also known as Ibrance. As part of this agreement, Pfizer will provide Ibrance and Talzenna along with financial support.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Calithera is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock currently.

Some better-ranked stocks worth considering are AstraZeneca Plc. (NYSE:AZN) and Roche Holding (SIX:ROG) AG (OTC:RHHBY) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

AstraZeneca’s earnings per share estimates have increased from $1.74 to $1.79 for 2019 and from $2.14 to $2.20 for 2020 in the past 60 days. The company delivered a positive earnings surprise in all the trailing four quarters, with average of 106.40%.

Roche’s earnings per share estimates have increased from $2.31 to $2.35 for 2019 and from $2.34 to $2.37 for 2020 over the past 90 days.

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