There is increasing interest in developing precision immunotherapies that target tumors but with minimal impact on healthy tissues. IL-12 is a potent immunostimulatory cytokine that has shown effective antitumoral activity in the preclinical setting, but its systemic delivery may be accompanied by off-target effects.
Nectin-4 antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) and checkpoint inhibitor combinations have represented a great advancement in the treatment of bladder cancer, but relapse and treatment-related toxicities underscore the need for new therapeutic strategies.
Researchers from Anaveon AG and affiliated organizations presented the discovery and preclinical characterization of ANV-700, a novel proximity-activated cytokine (PAC) compound designed to selectively deliver IL-21 to PD-1-expressing cells for the treatment of cancer.
AGEN-1721 was designed as an Fc-enhanced bifunctional antibody to selectively target FAP and neutralize TGF-β via an optimized TGF-βR2 TRAP moiety fused to an engineered Fc region, with the aim of maximizing effector functions.
Researchers from SL Bigen Inc. and collaborators presented the preclinical characterization of BM-205, a novel entity of engineered MSCs designed to exert antitumor functions.
Compared to normal tissues, where the expression of ULBP2/5/6 protein is restricted, in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), head and neck cancer and squamous urothelial carcinoma, the levels of ULBP2/5/6 remain high even following relapse from standard-of-care therapies and is retained in metastatic lesions. Besides, these squamous cell cancers showed a high proportion of CD2+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes compared to other co-stimulatory receptors.
Researchers from Astrazeneca plc presented the discovery and preclinical characterization of AZD-9793, a novel CD8-guided T-cell engager (TCE) being developed for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Researchers from Caedo Oncology AS presented the discovery and preclinical characterization of CO-005, a novel anti-CD47 fusion protein being developed for the treatment of lymphoma.
Bright Biologics LLC reported the discovery and preclinical evaluation of BB-203, an anti-PD-L1/anti-VEGF bispecific antibody (Ab) being developed for the treatment of cancer.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of liver cancer, with a 5-year survival rate of 18%. Glypican-3 (GPC3) is a protein with high expression in HCC but not in healthy tissue, making it an interesting target for therapy.
