Prelude Therapeutics Partners with Lilly to Evaluate KAT6A Degrader in Breast Cancer Trial

WILMINGTON, Del., Oct. 13, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- Prelude Therapeutics, a precision oncology company, has announced a significant collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company to evaluate PRT13722, a KAT6A selective degrader, in combination with Verzenio® and Inluriyo® in patients with HR+/HER2- breast cancer. This partnership is part of Prelude’s Phase 1 trial, which is set to initiate enrollment in the fourth quarter of 2026.

PRT13722, a wholly owned program of Prelude, is designed to selectively degrade KAT6A, a clinically validated target in the treatment of HR+ breast cancer. The preclinical data supporting this collaboration demonstrate that PRT13722, when used as a monotherapy, drives more complete disruption of the KAT6A regulatory pathways than dual KAT6A/B inhibitors. This results in more robust depth and breadth of efficacy across HR+/HER2- breast cancer models. Additionally, PRT13722 has shown durable complete tumor regressions in HR+/HER2- CDX and PDX xenograft models, both in endocrine therapy-naive and experienced patients, at well-tolerated doses.

The combination of PRT13722 with abemaciclib and imlunestrant, both of which are provided by Lilly, is expected to generate important data for patients. The preclinical data also indicate that PRT13722, when combined with endocrine therapy, CDK4/6 inhibitors, and PI3K inhibitors, demonstrates synergy while maintaining monotherapy and combination activity across HR+ breast cancer models, including ESR1 mutated and acquired therapy-resistant cancer cells. Furthermore, PRT13722 has shown an improved hematological safety profile compared to the KAT6A/B dual inhibitor prifetrastat, which may enable combinations with standard of care agents used in the frontline treatment of metastatic and early-stage HR+/HER2- breast cancer.

Prelude Therapeutics, founded on the belief in precision oncology, continues to develop innovative medicines for high unmet needs in cancer patients. The company's pipeline features highly selective KAT6A degraders and JAK2V617F mutant selective inhibitors, new approaches to clinically validated targets with transformative potential for patients. Prelude is leveraging its expertise in targeted protein degradation to create and develop next-generation degrader antibody conjugates (DACs) with novel payloads.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently cleared Prelude to proceed with the Phase 1 study under its Investigational New Drug (IND) Application for PRT13722. The company expects to begin enrolling patients in the fourth quarter of 2026, starting with monotherapy dose escalation and rapidly advancing to various combination cohorts.