Exelis Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) and Iconic Therapeutics have announced new preclinical data supporting the continued development of ICON-2 in the treatment of different solid tumors. ICON-2 is an ADC that comprises of anti-Tissue Factor antibody and Zymerwork’s novel linker payload.
ICON-2’s tolerability offers validation for the continued development of anti-TF molecules
In an agreement signed in May 2019 with Iconic, which discovered and has been developing the proprietary ADC, Exelis has an exclusive license and option agreement for ICON-2 in various solid tumors. The new data shows that there is enhanced tolerability and exposure of ICON-2 relative to MMAE anti-TF ADC. This week’s result will be presented at the World ADC Virtual Conference happing between September 15 and September 18.
William Greene, the CEO of Iconic Therapeutics, said the data offers additional preclinical validation to the company’s novel anti-TF molecules platform that has been designed to effectively and safely bind overexpressed TF in various tumors and the strategy to advance next-gen ADC targeting. Greene said that some of the ant-TF ADCs employing MMAE as their linker payload have been associated with adverse events that can reduce tolerability, leading to skin toxicities, neutropenia, and bleeding.
ICON-2 kills solid tumors according to preclinical studies
The data presented showed that ICON-2 can effectively kill solid tumor cells in different preclinical trials with enhanced tolerability profile, supporting the continued development of ICON-2 as a solid tumor treatment. Greene added that currently, they are conducting more preclinical and nonclinical trials supporting commencing human trials of the promising best-in-class Anti TF ADC.
TF is very important in the coagulation cascade, with its expression limited to normal tissues. However, sometimes solid tumors can express TF at high levels related to poor prognosis, especially in head and neck, ovarian, bladder, and cervical tumors.
Peter Lamb, the EVP Scientific Strategy and Chief Scientific Officer at Exelis, said that they entered the agreement with Iconic because of their knowledge of TF biology and access to novel ADC tech. This provides a solid foundation for the development of best-in-class treatments for solid tumors.
