Abstract 2619: A novel EGFR × HER3-targeting bispecific antibody drug-conjugate, BCG019, demonstrates robust anti-tumor efficacy in preclinical evaluation

Abstract

Abstract EGFR and HER3 are receptor tyrosine kinases that are highly expressed in multiple epithelial tumors. EGFR point mutations and small insertions within the kinase domain are common in lung cancer. HER3 is overexpressed in patients who are resistant to EGFR-TKI therapy, and is one of the common resistance mechanisms of EGFR and HER2-targeted therapy. We hypothesize that simultaneous targeting of EGFR and HER3 with a bispecific ADC will have the potential to overcome the resistance caused by HER3 after EGFR-targeted therapy and obtain better efficacy than the combination of EGFR monotherapy and HER3 monotherapy. We first generated fully human bispecific antibodies (bsAbs) targeting EGFR and HER3 using RenLite® mice, which contain the full human heavy chain variable domain with a common human kappa light chain to facilitate bispecific antibody assembly. The anti-EGFR × HER3 bsAb demonstrated reactivity to human and cynomolgus monkey antigens and binding to multiple cancer cell lines, including NSCLC, gastric, pancreatic, colorectal, and breast cancer cell lines. The anti-EGFR × HER3 bsAb also showed high internalization activity in cell lines expressing EGFR and HER3. The anti-EGFR × HER3 bsAb was then conjugated with vc-MMAE (valine-citrulline-monomethyl auristatin E) for proof-of-concept studies, as well as BLD1102, Biocytogen’s novel, proprietary linker/payload system composed of a DNA Topo I inhibitor payload (BCPT02) and highly hydrophilic protease-cleavable linker, to generate EGFR- and HER3-targeting bispecific ADC candidates BCG019. In vivo efficacy of the bsADC candidates were evaluated in cell-derived NSCLC and gastric cancer xenografts and in patient-derived gastric and colorectal xenograft models. Both bsADCs showed superior anti-tumor activity when compared to benchmark ADCs. Collectively, these results suggest that our novel anti-EGFR × HER3 bsADC has therapeutic potential for EGFR and HER3 co-expressing tumors. Citation Format: Zhuolin Li, Chengzhang Shang, Gao An, Chaoshe Guo, W. Frank An, Yi Yang. A novel EGFR × HER3-targeting bispecific antibody drug-conjugate, BCG019, demonstrates robust anti-tumor efficacy in preclinical evaluation [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 2619.