Curis Announces Reports of New Cancers Linked to Abnormal Hedgehog Pathway Signaling.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRIS), a therapeutic drug development company, today announced that there were a number of new reports presented at the current annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research that corroborate and expand our understanding of the linkage between abnormal Hedgehog pathway signaling and the development of various forms of cancer. Two reports presented at the conference for the first time linked the Hedgehog pathway to certain forms of liver cancer and cervical cancer.

Both reports suggest that inhibition of the Hedgehog pathway may be an attractive therapeutic target for the treatment of these cancers. The first of these reports, entitled "Hedgehog Signaling in Human Hepatocellular Cancer," was presented by researchers from the University of California at San Francisco and the University of Hong Kong. The second report, entitled "Study of Hedgehog Signaling in Cervical Cancer," was authored by scientists from the University of Hong Kong and the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada.

Hepatocellular carcinoma accounts for 80 to 90 percent of all liver cancers. It occurs more often in men than women and mostly in people 50 to 60 years old. The American Cancer Society estimates that there are more than 17,000 new cases of liver cancer and more than 12,000 new cases of cervical cancer each year in the United States.

The conference also included a number of additional reports on abnormal Hedgehog pathway signaling that either corroborated earlier linkages to particular cancers or expanded our understanding of the potential disease mechanisms underlying those associations. These presentations included reports on Hedgehog pathway involvement in pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, medulloblastoma, and basal cell carcinoma.

Daniel Passeri, Curis' President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "The increasing number of new reports linking abnormal Hedgehog pathway signaling to the development of certain cancers provides a solid justification for the significant investment Curis has made in the development of technologies, including small molecule drug candidates, to block or inhibit this important pathway."

About the Hedgehog Signaling Pathway 

The Hedgehog signaling pathway is a regulatory mechanism used by the body to control the normal development and growth of stem cells and certain tissues systems. Numerous preclinical studies have linked abnormal expression of Hedgehog pathway signaling to the development of certain forms of cancer, including basal cell carcinoma, small cell lung cancer, medulloblastoma, pancreatic cancer, gastrointestinal cancers, and others cancers.

About Curis, Inc.

Curis, Inc. is a therapeutic drug development company. The Company's technology focus is on regulatory pathways that control repair and regeneration. Curis' product development involves the use of proteins or small molecules to modulate these pathways. Curis has successfully used this technology and product development approach to produce several promising drug product candidates in the fields of cancer (under collaboration with Genentech, which also includes a co-development agreement between Curis and Genentech for a basal cell carcinoma product candidate), kidney disease (licensed to Ortho Biotech, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson), neurological disorders (partnered with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals), hair growth, and cardiovascular disease. For more information, please visit the Curis web site at www.curis.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements about Curis' drug discovery and development programs. Such statements may contain the words "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "seeks", "estimates" or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause Curis' actual results to be materially different from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. Actual results can be affected by a number of important factors including, among other things: adverse results in Curis' and its strategic partners' product development programs; difficulties or delays in obtaining or maintaining required regulatory approvals; Curis' ability to obtain or maintain the patent and other proprietary intellectual property protection necessary for the development and commercialization of products based on its technologies; changes in or Curis' inability to execute its business strategy; the risk that Curis does not obtain the additional funding required to conduct research and development of its product candidates and execute on its business plan; unplanned cash requirements and expenditures; risks relating to Curis' ability to enter into and maintain important strategic collaborations, including its ability to maintain its current collaboration agreements with Genentech, Ortho Biotech Products and Wyeth; the risk that competitors will discover and develop signaling pathway-based therapeutics faster and more successfully than Curis and its collaborators are able to; and other risk factors identified in Curis' most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Report on 10-Q and any subsequent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, any forward-looking statements represent the Company's views only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. Curis disclaims any intention or obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.