EpimAb Biotherapeutics Presents Preclinical Data Characterizing EMB-01 at AACR Virtual Annual Meeting II
EMB-01 is found to induce co-degradation of EGFR and cMet in various tumor cells
EpimAb Biotherapeutics, an emerging Shanghai-based biopharmaceutical company specializing in bispecific antibodies, today presented preclinical data at the 2020 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Virtual Annual Meeting II. The data presented in the poster titled, “EMB-01: An innovative bispecific antibody targeting EGFR and cMet on tumor cells mediates a novel mechanism to improve anti-tumor efficacy”, characterizes EMB-01, EpimAb’s lead bispecific antibody candidate developed based the company’s proprietary FIT-Ig® platform to target EGFR and cMet on tumor cells simultaneously. EMB01 is currently progressing through a Phase I/II clinical trial in patients with advanced metastatic solid tumors.
“The characterization of EMB-01 shows that the FIT-Ig®-based design enables it to bind simultaneously to EGFR and cMet, both found on the surface of various tumor cells, where it then induces co-degradation of these two receptors,” said Dr. Chengbin Wu, CEO and founder of EpimAb. “The resulting highly potent and durable anti-tumor effect in animal models encouraged EpimAb to rapidly advance EMB-01 to the clinic where it is currently being investigated in oncology indications. The unique biology underlying EMB-01 encouraged our research teams to explore various options in human research, and the clinical validation of our FIT-Ig® platform facilitated our efforts in advancing additional bispecific antibody programs, such as EMB-02 and EMB-06, for which we expect to file two new INDs in 2020.”
“With the unique mechanism of action, EMB-01 could provide a new treatment option for non-small cell lung cancer patients previously treated with current drugs on the market but who later developed resistance, as well as for other solid tumors where disease progression is mediated by EGFR and/or cMet,” said Dr. Bin Peng, Chief Medial Officer of EpimAb. “EpimAb is excited to learn more from our ongoing clinical trials.”
The preclinical study shows that EMB-01 binds to EGFR and cMet simultaneously and induces co-degradation of both targets in various tumor cells, an effect unattainable by parental monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) alone or in combination. EMB01 was also shown to exhibit more extensive inhibition of EGFR and cMet downstream signals, and a more potent and durable in vivo efficacy in various PDX tumor models compared to parental mAbs. This enhanced potency could likely be driven by EMB-01-mediated co-degradation of the EGFR and cMet in tumor cells.
EMB-01 is a novel bispecific antibody developed based on EpimAb’s proprietary FIT-Ig® platform to simultaneously target EGFR and cMet on tumor cells. The anti-EGFR and anti-cMet Fab-domains in each EMB-01 arm are fused directly in-tandem in a unique crisscross orientation without any mutations or use of peptide linkers to form a final tetravalent binding complex with the corresponding receptors on the cell surface.
