Selective Action on Cancer Cells
Reduced Activation of Normal Cells
Enhanced Efficacy with Minimized Toxicity
Celltrion announced on April 28 that it had presented the preclinical results of its multi-antibody-based anticancer drug candidate, CT-P72, in an oral presentation at the AACR (American Association for Cancer Research) 2025, the world’s largest cancer conference held in Chicago, United States.
CT-P72 is a multi-antibody immuno-oncology drug candidate that Celltrion is jointly developing with the US biotech company Abpro. It is a T-cell engager (TCE)-based therapeutic that connects cancer cells expressing HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) with immune cells known as T-cells to eliminate cancer cells.
In 2022, Celltrion signed a joint development agreement with Abpro for the development of a bispecific antibody therapy targeting HER2-positive solid tumors and has since continued a strategic collaboration.
According to this presentation, CT-P72 targets both HER2 and the immune cell surface protein CD3 simultaneously, activating T-cells to attack cancer cells while minimizing toxicity to normal cells. In particular, CT-P72 demonstrated a high tumor suppression effect by selectively acting on cancer cells in HER2 high-expression tumor models, while showing low toxicity to normal cells. As a result, both safety and efficacy were positively demonstrated at the preclinical stage.
CT-P72 consistently maintained its anticancer efficacy in both in vitro (test tube) and in vivo (animal) experiments. In primate toxicity tests, it showed 180 times superior safety compared to comparator substances.
Celltrion adjusted the avidity in the structural design of CT-P72 to reduce binding to normal cells while enabling specific reactivity to cancer cells. Based on this, the company structurally improved toxicity issues and achieved the best therapeutic index among therapies with the same mechanism of action, confirming its potential as a best-in-class treatment.
A Celltrion representative stated, "CT-P72 has demonstrated excellent tolerability in preclinical studies, significantly increasing its potential as a new drug candidate. Based on these results, we plan to accelerate the development of multi-antibody therapeutics and speed up our entry into the next-generation anticancer drug market."
Meanwhile, Celltrion received US FDA phase 1 IND approval for its ADC drug candidate CT-P70 in March. Within this year, the company also plans to sequentially submit IND applications for follow-up multi-antibody and antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) candidates, including CT-P71 and CT-P72. Accordingly, Celltrion aims to expand its new drug pipeline by developing a total of 13 candidates?nine in the ADC field and four in the multi-antibody field?by 2028.
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