Glythera, a UK-based company has won a UK £ 1 million (US $ 1,12 million) Innovate UK grant to fund a new project to develop the next-generation antibody-drug conjugates or ADCs for difficult-to-treat tumors using the company’s proprietary non-maleimide conjugation platform (PermaLink®) in combination with its portfolio of novel toxins and antibodies.
Antibody-drug Conjugates are an emerging class of targeted therapeutics in the fight against cancer. By combining the targeting power of antibodies with the cell killing capability of highly potent toxins, these novel, targeted, agents have the potential to kill tumor cells while at the same time limiting damage to healthy tissues. Antibody-drug conjugates also improve patient outcomes over traditional chemotherapy.
Glythera’s PermaLink®-based ADCs have the potential to improve clinical utility through their significantly enhanced conjugation stability, which results in an improved therapeutic index and overall tumor response.
Proprietary technology
The company’s proprietary technology is highly specific for the sulfhydryl groups of cysteine residues which are a primary site for cytotoxic drug attachment in many ADCs currently in clinical development. The technology offers enhanced stability provided by a stable thioether bond which is resistant to biological and chemical degradation and is compatible with a diverse range of cytotoxic payloads due to the ability to be tailored to generate both “non-cleavable” and “cleavable” linkers for efficient release of active drug following antigen-mediated internalization
PermaLink®-based ADCs
This project aims to develop a portfolio of PermaLink®-based ADCs by combining novel high-potency toxins with a series of ADC-viable, tumour-specific antibodies, selected according to pre-defined criteria and specifically focused towards antigens that are overexpressed in difficult-to-treat cancers. Data generated from in vitro and in vivo studies of these conjugates will be used to prioritize the most promising candidates for pre-clinical development programs. Glythera intends to identify its first clinical candidate for ‘first-in-man studies’ in 2019.
Partnership
Glythera has partnered with Covance, the world renowned global contract research division of LabCorp Inc., for the Innovate UK-funded project. Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, has invested UK £ 1,080,235 of Biomedical Catalyst funding in the project.
“Glythera is poised to bring a new generation of oncology focused therapies to the clinic. The funding by Innovate UK will help us identify novel antibody-drug conjugates for the potential treatment of a variety of cancers that are associated with high relapse rates to current treatment. These will then be prioritized for pre-clinical development, noted Dave Simpson, Chief Executive Office of Glythera.
“With Innovate UK’s support, we aim to build a portfolio of much-needed, safe treatments to improve the lives of patients living with these devastating cancers,” Simpson added.
