Timdarpacept

A novel recombinant SIRPα-Fc fusion protein, IMM01, was constructed and produced using an in-house developed CHO-K1 cell expression system, and the anti-tumor mechanism of IMM01 targeting the CD47-SIRPα pathway was explored. The phagocytosis and in vitro anti-tumor activity of IMM01 were evaluated by antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis (ADCP), antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC), and complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) assays. In vivo mouse tumor model studies were used to explore therapeutic efficacy as well as the mechanism of action. An in vitro binding assay revealed that IMM01 has a strong binding affinity to CD47 with an EC50 of 0.4967 nM. IMM01 can induce strong ADCP and moderate ADCC, but not CDC. IMM01-induced strong phagocytosis against tumor cells was attributed to dual activities of blocking the "don’t eat me" signal and activating the "eat me" signal, and IMM01 exhibits strong and robust in vivo anti-tumor activities either as monotherapy on hematological malignancies, or in combination therapy with PD-L1 monoclonal antibody (mAb), PD-1 mAb, and HER-2 mAb on solid tumors. Finally, IMM01 demonstrated a favorable safety profile with no human RBC binding activity or hemagglutination induction. IMM01 inhibits the growth of tumor cells by the following three possible mechanisms: (1) directly activating macrophages to phagocytize tumor cells; (2) activated macrophages degrade phagocytized tumor cells and present tumor antigens to T cells through MHC molecules to activate T cells; (3) activated macrophages can convert "cold tumors" into "hot tumors" and increase the infiltration of immune cells through chemotaxis by secreting some cytokines and chemokines.

CD38 and CD47 are expressed in many hematologic malignancies, including multiple myeloma (MM), B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Here, we evaluated the antitumor activities of CD38/CD47 bispecific antibodies (BsAbs).

Five suitable anti-CD38 antibodies for co-targeting CD47 and CD38 BsAb were developed using a 2 + 2 “mAb-trap” platform. The activity characteristics of the CD38/CD47 BsAbs were evaluated using in vitro and in vivo systems.

Using hybridoma screening technology, we obtained nine suitable anti-CD38 antibodies. All anti-CD38 antibodies bind to CD38+ tumor cells and kill tumor cells via antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis (ADCP). Five anti-CD38 antibodies (4A8, 12C10, 26B4, 35G5, and 65A7) were selected for designing CD38/CD47 BsAbs (IMM5605) using a “mAb-trap” platform. BsAbs had higher affinity and binding activity to the CD38 target than those to the CD47 target, decreasing the potential on-target potential and off-tumor effects. The CD38/CD47 BsAbs did not bind to RBCs and did not induce RBC agglutination; thus, BsAbs had much lower blood toxicity. The CD38/CD47 BsAbs had a greater ability to block the CD47/SIRPα signal in CD38+/CD47+ tumor cells than IMM01 (SIRPα Fc fusion protein). Through Fc domain engineering, CD38/CD47 BsAbs were shown to kill tumors more effectively by inducing ADCC and ADCP. IMM5605–26B4 had the strongest inhibitory effect on cellular CD38 enzymatic activity. IMM5605–12C10 had the strongest ability to directly induce the apoptosis of tumor cells. The anti-CD38 antibody 26B4 combined with the SIRPα-Fc fusion proteins showed strong antitumor effects, which were better than any of the mono-therapeutic agents used alone in the NCI-H929 cell xenograft model. The CD38/CD47 BsAbs exhibited strong antitumor effects; specifically, IMM5605–12C10 efficiently eradicated all established tumors in all mice.

A panel of BsAbs targeting CD38 and CD47 developed based on the “mAb-tarp” platform showed potent tumor-killing ability in vitro and in vivo. As BsAbs had lower affinity for binding to CD47, higher affinity for binding to CD38, no affinity for binding to RBCs, and did not induce RBC agglutination, we concluded that CD38/CD47 BsAbs are safe and have a satisfactory tolerability profile.