ADCT clinical development senior vice president and chief medical officer Dr Jay Feingold said: "We are very pleased with the efficacy and tolerability achieved with our lead hematological PBD-based ADC programs, but regrettably this has not been the case with our HER2 targeted ADC. PBD's (pyrrolobenzodiazepine dimers) are extremely potent and have a well characterized safety profile that includes fluid retention and pulmonary edema.
“For most PBD ADCs this can be managed by selecting dosing regimens that are efficacious with manageable toxicities. However, during dose escalation in this trial we did not achieve the necessary efficacy at tolerated doses required for patient benefit.”
ADCT-502 is an investigational antibody drug conjugate (ADC) composed of the humanized monoclonal antibody trastuzumab directed against the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2).
The antibody is site-specifically conjugated to the PBD-based linker-drug tesirine. Once bound to the HER2 receptor on the cell surface, ADCT-502 is internalized into the cell where enzymes release the PBD-based warhead.
HER2 is a well-established, clinically validated target expressed in a wide variety of solid tumors, including breast, gastric, esophageal, bladder and lung cancer.
ADC Therapeutics SA (ADCT) is an oncology drug discovery and development company that specializes in the development of proprietary antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) targeting major hematological malignancies and solid tumors.
The Company's ADCs are highly targeted biopharmaceutical drugs that combine monoclonal antibodies specific to surface antigens present on particular tumor cells with a novel class of highly potent pyrrolobenzodiazepine (PBD) based warheads via a chemical linker.
Source: Company Press Release