Apr 06, 2023
Presenter/Authors
Wei Lu1, Jing Shi2, Shu-Hui Liu2, Nicole Covino1, Xun Meng2, Eric D. Slosberg1
1OnCusp Therapeutics, Inc., New York, NY,
2Multitude Therapeutics Inc., Shanghai, China
Disclosures
W. Lu, None.
J. Shi, None.
S. Liu, None.
N. Covino,
Eli Lilly and Co. Stock.
X. Meng, None.
E. D. Slosberg, None.
Abstract
Cadherin-6 (CDH6), also known as K-cadherin, is a type II classic cadherin molecule that plays an important role in the embryonic development of the kidney, but has very limited expression in adult tissues. It is overexpressed in several human malignancies, primarily in ovarian, renal, but also (to a lesser degree) gastric, thyroid, cholangiocarcinoma and other tumor types. The characteristics of limited expression in normal tissues, high expression in tumor tissues, and rapid internalization upon antibody binding makes CDH6 a well-suited Antibody-drug Conjugate (ADC) target. We developed a novel CDH6-targeting ADC, CUSP06, consisting of a proprietary humanized antibody selective for CDH6, a protease cleavable linker, and an exatecan payload, with a drug-to-antibody ratio (DAR) of 8. CUSP06 selectively bound to cell surface CDH6 and was efficiently internalized into CDH6 positive ovarian and renal cancer cells. CUSP06 exhibited strong antiproliferative activity against several CDH6 positive cancer cell lines in vitro. Furthermore, compared to a DXd-based ADC, a exatecan-based ADC demonstrated improved bystander effect. Treatment with CUSP06 resulted in tumor regression in several CDH6 positive cell line derived xenograft (CDX) models, including PA-1, OVCAR3, and 786-O. In addition, CUSP06 demonstrated potent antitumor activity with tumor regression observed in two CDH6 low and high expressing patient derived xenograft (PDX) models. The preclinical activity of CUSP06 against CDH6-expressing tumors provide compelling support for the clinical development of CUSP06 in CDH6-expressing human cancers. CUSP06 is currently in IND-enabling studies. CUSP06 showed an expected toxicity profile consistent with it's exatecan payload in the ongoing pilot toxicology studies. We plan to initiate a Phase 1 first-in-human clinical trial in the 2nd half of 2023.
