iBio Reports Antibody Hat-Trick in its In Vivo IO Programs
AI-driven antibody biotech iBio has announced positive data from three in vivo preclinical programs. The drug candidates anti-EGFRvIII, CCR8, and TROP-2 x CD3, have all been advanced to clinical candidate selection.
“The swift and concurrent achievement of in vivo proof-of-concept for three of our pre-clinical programs showcases the power of our AI-enabled technology and the relentless dedication and focus of our drug discovery team,” said Dillon Phan, VP and Head of Early R&D at iBio.
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Mouse models have shown that the antibody targeting EGFRvIII demonstrated a 43% reduction in tumour growth in head and neck cancers. iBio developed the antibody to target a tumour-specific variant of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) in order to reduce on-target toxicity in healthy tissue.
The CCR8 antibody also showed positive results in mouse models, this time in colon cancer. Tumour growth in those models saw a 22% reduction in tumour size. iBio was able to induce anti-cancer efficacy without unwanted interactions with CCR4, which is often affected by anti-CCR8 molecules.
The development of these first two antibodies was made possible by the company’s AI-driven epitope steering platform which is able to engineer anti-cancer molecules to enhance their tumour-killing.
The final antibody in the trio, a bispecific targeting TROP-2 and CD3, also produced tumour reduction in humanised mouse models. Squamous cell carcinoma tumours saw a 36% reduction in these models after 14 days and just a single dose.
Phan said: “The development of bispecific antibodies, such as TROP-2 x CD3, is particularly challenging, so we are especially pleased with the recent addition of the T-cell engager platform, EngageTx, to our tech stack, which has enabled the discovery and advancement of this candidate so quickly.”
iBio used their proprietary T-cell engager platform EngageTx to develop this bispecific. TROP-2 is a cell surface protein which is overexpressed on multiple solid tumours such as breast, lung, colorectal, and pancreatic cancers.
“We are excited about the potential to further develop and initiate IND-enabling studies for all three molecules to support the continued advancement of iBio’s therapeutic pre-clinical pipeline,” added Phan.
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