Abclon Introduces 5 Global New Drug Candidates... "Expanding Antibody Inside Strategy"

Appclon introduced five new drug candidates under development through its antibody inside strategy.

On the 8th, Appclon announced that it recently developed a TIGIT (immune checkpoint receptor) antibody in collaboration with Yuhan Corporation, which has been gaining attention. The immuno-oncology drug ‘YH41723,’ developed as a bispecific antibody, simultaneously targets PD-L1 (programmed death-ligand 1) and TIGIT. It is expected to show strong and broad efficacy in patient groups with low response rates to PD-L1 immuno-oncology drugs, which has not been demonstrated by existing combination therapies. Yuhan’s YH41723 was introduced as part of its new drug pipeline at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference (JPM) last January.

Additionally, GC Cell, which received approval for its phase 1 clinical trial application (IND) last year, incorporated Appclon’s HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) antibody into the solid tumor-targeting CAR-NK (chimeric antigen receptor-natural killer) cell therapy ‘AB-201.’ AB-201 is scheduled to begin clinical trials in the first half of this year to evaluate safety and anti-tumor activity in 48 patients with HER2-overexpressing breast cancer, gastric cancer, and gastroesophageal junction cancer. In 2021, GC Cell’s U.S. affiliate, Atiba Biotherapeutics, signed a contract with Merck to jointly develop three solid tumor-targeting CAR-NK therapies, with the contract amount reaching approximately $1.8 billion (2.4 trillion KRW).

Appclon is also developing a new CAR-T therapy targeting both BTLA (B and T lymphocyte attenuator) protein and CD30 (cancer protein) in collaboration with Professor Marco Ruella of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. This therapy applies a technology that blocks cancer cells’ evasion strategy by removing the BTLA protein from T cells, selecting CD30 as the target protein for the CAR-T therapy, and verifying its therapeutic effect against Hodgkin lymphoma. Following its introduction at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) last year, research results will continue to be published in overseas academic journals.

At the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR 2024) conference to be held next month in San Diego, USA, Appclon will present ‘AT501.’ AT501 is a switchable CAR-T therapy candidate targeting HER2-positive solid tumors. It was newly developed by applying existing CAR-T therapy technology to a switch molecule conjugated with Appclon’s proprietary HER2-reactive affibody (an artificial protein that binds to specific target substances) and cotinine.

Another antibody drug targeting HER2, ‘AC101,’ is currently undergoing phase 2 clinical trials at Henlius, a Chinese antibody therapy company. In January, interim results of the phase 2 trial were presented at the ASCO GI symposium, part of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) focusing on gastrointestinal cancers. According to the interim phase 2 results, combining AC101 with the currently used standard treatment ‘HLX02’ (a Herceptin biosimilar) in patients with HER2-positive locally advanced and metastatic cancer showed significantly superior therapeutic efficacy compared to existing first-line gastric cancer treatments.

An Appclon representative stated, “New drug candidates discovered through technology transfer or joint development are expected to achieve milestones and royalty contracts depending on the clinical progress stage,” adding, “We will expand our business capabilities in the global bio-pharmaceutical sector through our proprietary antibody inside strategy, aiming for global technology transfer achievements.”