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news.MorphoSys has commenced patient dosing in a Phase 2 trial of MOR208 to treat B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL).
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The US-based study will assess the effectiveness of potent monoclonal Fc optimized anti-CD19 antibody MOR208 in a total of 30 enrolled subjects.
Response duration, safety and pharmacokinetics of MOR208 are secondary outcome measures of the open-label, multicenter trial.
MorphoSys chief development officer Dr. Arndt Schottelius said CD19 represents a particularly attractive immunotherapy target for haematological cancers due to its high expression levels on non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas and B-cell leukemias.
"What is unique about MOR208 is that the antibody comprises only a very minor change to the Fc part of the molecule leading to significantly increased potency," Schottelius added.
The target molecule CD19 is expressed more broadly and earlier in B-cell development than CD20.
Thus, targeting CD19 could potentially allow broader therapeutic use of MOR208 than marketed anti-CD20 antibodies, according to the company.