Results show Ganymed monoclonal lead antibodies, directed against the company’s GC182 cancer target, are effective against solid human tumors in mouse xenograft models. No toxicity was observed.
The GC182 target is a cell surface protein that is involved in cell to cell interactions. It was shown to be expressed with high prevalence and unique specificity in several solid cancers with high medical need. The GC182 cell surface epitope that is targeted by Ganymed’s antibodies is identical in mouse and man, and highly similar in other mammalian species. Thus, mouse xenograft models with Ganymed’s GC182 antibodies can be considered as highly predictive preclinical models.
“This excellent animal data fully confirms our earlier analysis based on human immunohistochemistry and cell culture data,” said Dr Ozlem Tureci, chief scientific officer and co-founder of Ganymed. “The experiments clearly demonstrate that our antibodies are highly effective against tumors that express GC182, without any apparent toxicity.”
The therapeutic efficacy of current solid cancer therapeutics is severely limited, because their molecular targets are elevated in a subset of a particular cancer but they are also found widely in normal tissues. In contrast, Ganymed says its validated proprietary pan cancer surface antigens are uniquely specific for cancer tissues and can be expected to show greater therapeutic efficacy and better safety allowing significant reduction in time to market.
The company plans to market its cancer therapeutics after clinical or animal proof of concept has been demonstrated to large pharmaceutical and biotech companies.