I-Mab (NASDAQ: IMAB) has announced the dosing of the first patient in the phase 2 study of lemzoparlimab combination with PD-1antibidy toripalimab in advanced solid tumors patients in China. The phase 2 trial is set up as a basket test, with the possibility of a registrational study in China.
i-Mab commences lemzoparlimab and toripalimab phase 2 study
The company’s president Dr. Andrew Zhu said, “We are pleased to initiate the phase 2 trial for the combination of lemzoparlimab and toripalimab in patients with advanced solid tumors in China, and looking forward to accelerating its clinical development. We are leveraging our translational medicine findings to select tumors with a higher probability of success for this trial.”
According to preclinical studies, Lemzoparlimab is a new CD47 antibody that has excellent antitumor action while demonstrating limited affinity to red blood cells. It’s being tested in advanced solid tumors in the United States and in patients with AML/MDS and NHL in other current clinical trials in the United States and China. In addition, Lemzoparlimab has been given without the need for a priming dosage in all of the clinical studies so far.
CD47 attacks tumors with minimal side effects
CD47 is a cell membrane protein that is highly expressed in a range of cancers and can protect tumors by sending a “don’t eat me” message to macrophages that would otherwise devour the tumor. The CD47 antibody blocks the signal, allowing macrophages to destroy tumor cells. However, the hematological adverse effects of CD47 antibody resulting from the natural affinity of CD47 antibody with red blood cells have impeded its advancement as cancer therapeutic. Therefore, I-Mab scientists created lemzoparlimab, a new CD47 antibody that is intended to attack tumor cells while having minimal side effects on red blood cells.
I-Mab and AbbVie announced a worldwide strategic partnership to create and market lemzoparlimab in September 2020. This includes planning and executing additional clinical studies in China and around the world to assess lemzoparlimab’s efficacy in various malignancies. As of April 20, AbbVie has taken over sponsorship of the research in the US.
