CJ Bioscience Presents Anticancer Effects and Mechanism of 'CJRB-101' at American Association for Cancer Research Meeting

Using PDX Models
Obtaining Data on Anticancer Efficacy and Mechanisms of Strains

CJ Bioscience announced on the 13th that it will present preclinical study results on CJRB-101 in a poster session at the 'American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 2023,' one of the world's top three cancer conferences.

At this conference, CJ Bioscience plans to present the anticancer effects and mechanisms of action of CJRB-101 administered alone and in combination with the immune checkpoint inhibitor 'Keytruda (generic name pembrolizumab).' CJRB-101 is an immuno-oncology drug candidate (pipeline) secured by CJ Bioscience, which received FDA approval for clinical trial plans for the new drug candidate earlier this year.

The company is the first microbiome drug developer to utilize the PDX (Patient-Derived Xenograft) model to obtain data on the anticancer efficacy and mechanism of action (MoA) of CJRB-101. The PDX model involves transplanting actual cancer patient tissues into mice with a human immune system and is known as the animal model that best predicts actual patient responses.

CJ Bioscience explained that this study is significant because it identified the anticancer mechanism of action of CJRB-101 through macrophages. The company revealed that CJRB-101 activates the M1 macrophage response, which inhibits tumor growth, and induces M2 macrophages, which promote tumor growth, to convert into M1 macrophages, thereby enhancing immune activity. Furthermore, it was confirmed that the number of cytotoxic T lymphocytes, which directly eliminate tumors, increased as CJRB-101 activated M1 macrophages.

In particular, CJ Bioscience emphasized that it elucidated the anticancer mechanism of CJRB-101 through various analytical methods, including single-cell RNA sequencing. Single-cell RNA sequencing is a technique that examines the RNA sequences of individual cells, enabling high-level analysis of each cell. All subjects treated with CJRB-101 showed tumor shrinkage compared to the control group, producing positive preclinical research results.

A CJ Bioscience representative stated, "Analyzing the role and function of macrophages is essential for developing microbiome-based anticancer immunotherapies that have relatively fewer side effects and superior efficacy," adding, "The anticancer mechanism of CJRB-101 involving macrophage conversion will be an important strategy for developing new anticancer immunotherapies in the future."