K-bio, R&D global competitiveness will be put to the test

with bispecific antibodies and ADC achievements

The American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting (AACR 2024) will be held April 5-10

Yuhan, Hanmi Pharmaceutical, and ABL Bio will introduce their candidate bispecific antibodies for cancer immunotherapy

LegoChem Biosciences will showcase the preclinical results of ADC bispecific antibodies

The American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting (AACR 2024) will be held April 5-10 in San Diego.

The Korean pharmaceutical industry will showcase its new candidate products entering late-stage clinical trials or aiming to export technology on platforms, testing their global competitiveness.

 

The spotlight is on these new candidate products, particularly the trending bispecific antibodies and antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), to identify which ones stand out from the rest.

 

Yuhan, Hanmi Pharmaceutical, ABL Bio, and LegoChem Biosciences announced they are prepared to present the clinical trial results at the conference.

 

According to industry sources on the 19th, the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting 2024 (AACR 2024) will be held April 5-10 in San Diego, United States.

 

The AACR is one of the world’s three cancer conferences, next to the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO).

 

During the conference, early-stage clinical results of new candidate cancer drugs, including findings from preclinical and phase 1 trials, are typically presented.

 

Korean pharmaceutical drug discovery actively pursues the development of ‘bispecific antibodies,‘ which simultaneously target two mutations At this year's AACR 2024, the Korean companies will present clinical results of candidate bispecific antibodies with novel mechanisms.

 

Bispecific antibodies have clinical advantages over monoclonal antibodies, as they have additional specific antigen-binding sites.

 

Yuhan will unveil two preclinical research results of bispecific antibodies in cancer immunotherapy, which the company is jointly developing with a bioventure company in South Korea.

 

Yuhan’s new candidate product to be presented at the meeting is YH41723.

 

YH41723, cancer immunotherapy under joint development by Yuhan and ImmuneOnsia, targets PD-L1 and TIGIT.

 

Yuhan plans to maximize the drug's effect by targeting both TIGIT (T-cell iMMunoreceptor with immunoglobulin and ITIM domain) and PDL-1, which is currently targeted by commercialized cancer immunotherapy such as Keytruda and Opdivo.

 

In addition to Yuhan Pharmaceuticals, global pharmaceutical companies such as Roche, Merck, Novartis, and Gilead are also developing anti-cancer drugs targeting TIGIT.

 

Additionally, during a poster session, Yuhan will present the preclinical results of YH32367, which is under joint development with ABL Bio.

 

YH32367 targets HER2 and 41BB proteins expressed in major solid cancers.

 

It has been reported that reducing 41BB toxicity can prevent long-term cancer recurrence because 41BB is activated only nearby PD-L1-expressing cancer cells.

 

Hanmi Pharmaceutical will present preclinical results of BH3120, which targets PD-L1 and 41BB.

 

BH3120 incorporates Hanmi's platform technology Pentambody, a next-generation bispecific antibody platform that activates immune cells while selectively attacking target cancer cells.

 

Results on the anticancer synergy and safety profile of PDL-1 inhibitors in combination therapy will be presented at the conference.

 

Beijing Hanmi Pharmaceutical is currently conducting phase 1 clinical trials of BH3120 as a monotherapy.

 

Additionally, Hanmi Pharmaceutical will present research results of the next-generation EZH1/2 bispecific inhibitor, HM97662.

 

Selective inhibition of EZH2 is known to induce resistance by activating EZH1.

 

Based on the assumption that bispecific inhibition of EZH1 and EZH2 may be more effective than EZH2 inhibition alone, Hanmi Pharmaceutical has developed HM97662.

 

ABL Bio will participate in poster sessions to present the preclinical results of its new bispecific antibody immunotherapy candidates, ABL112 and ABL407.

 

These two candidate pipelines, featuring the 41BB-based bispecific antibody platform Grabody-T, will be presented for the first time at AACR 2024 next month.

 

ABL112 targets TIGIT.

 

ABL407 targets LILRB4, which is overexpressed in immunosuppressive tumor-associated myeloid cells.

 

Shaperon will present the research results of Papiliximab, a nano-body bispecific antibody that simultaneously inhibits the immune checkpoint and innate immune checkpoint proteins.

 

The company plans to reveal how they can prevent cancer cells from evading the immune system's response by simultaneously targeting PD-L1 and the innate immune checkpoint ligand CD47.

 

Papiliximab is known for not causing hemolysis even at high concentrations, thereby avoiding the side effects of conventional CD47 antibodies.

 

LegoChem Biosciences will showcase the preclinical results of ADC bispecific antibody ‘LCB36’ LegoChem Biosciences, specializing in antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) discovery, will present the preclinical results of its ADC bispecific antibody LCB36 for the first time at the conference.

 

LCB36 targets CD20 and CD22.

 

LCB36 is the first to target CD20 and CD22 simultaneously, while monoclonal antibodies targeting CD20 or CD22 and bispecific antibodies targeting CD20 and CD3 have been developed CD20 and CD22 are known to be expressed in blood cancers, and LegoChem Biosciences is developing LCB36 as a new drug targeting B-cell lymphoma.

 

LegoChem Biosciences plans to showcase the drug tolerance and safety model acquired from a mouse model study.

 

Additionally, LegoChem Biosciences plans to showcase the research outcomes of ADC LCB02A, which targets claudin 18.2.

 

Claudin 18.2 is a protein overexpressed in stomach and esophagus cancers, an emerging target that ADC drug discovery focuses on.

 

LegoChem Biosciences will also showcase the preclinical results of LCB84, an ADC targeting TROP2.

 

LCB84 is a new drug candidate that achieved a successful technology export to Johnson & Johnson's subsidiary Janssen in the United States in December last year, amounting to $1.7 billion (approximately KRW 2.24 trillion).

 

In preclinical studies, LCB84 demonstrated efficacy in solid tumors not responding to topoisomerase enzymes-based TROP2 ADC payloads.

 

Major ADCs like Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan) incorporate the technology of topoisomerase enzymes.

 

TROP2 functions as a calcium signal transducer in cells, regulating cell proliferation and survival.

 

Although this protein is found in normal cells, it is often overexpressed in cancer cells, leading to drug resistance.

 

The TROP2 biomarker is mainly found in breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and other solid tumors.

 

Companies like LegoChem Biosciences are targeting major solid tumors in their clinical trials.

 

The only successful commercialization using a similar mechanism has been Gilead's Trodelvy (sacituzumab govitecan).