ABL Bio "Suppressing Cancer Recurrence with Memory-Forming T Cells... Confident in Bispecific Antibody Platform"

Joint Development with I-Mab Aiming to Start Clinical Trials in the First Half of Next Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] ABL Bio and its partner I-Mab will unveil ABL111 (TJ-CD4B), a jointly researched product, at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting (AACR) on the 22nd, U.S. time.

ABL Bio announced on the 15th that it will participate as a joint research company in four poster presentations at the AACR abstract presentation.

ABL Bio is involved in ▲two pipelines of bispecific antibody immuno-oncology drugs based on the ‘Grabody-T’ platform jointly researched with I-Mab ▲a pipeline (ABL105/YHC2121) jointly researched with Yuhan Corporation ▲and projects conducted together with Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH).

ABL111 is a bispecific antibody immuno-oncology drug that binds Claudin 18.2 (CLDN18.2), an antigen expressed in gastric and pancreatic cancers, with 4-1BB, which activates immune cells (T cells). According to ABL Bio, during the research process, ABL111 strongly inhibited the growth of tumor cells expressing CLDN18.2, and it was observed to increase tumor lymphocytes without affecting peripheral lymphocytes. It also resulted in minimizing side effects by inducing strong anticancer activity only in the tumor microenvironment.

ABL Bio’s 4-1BB bispecific antibody has attracted attention by achieving 100% eradication of cancer cells in animal models. The Grabody-T platform is praised for differentiating itself from other anticancer drugs by maximizing anticancer effects through inducing ‘memory T-cell’ action. Memory formation refers to the human immune system’s rapid immune response by T cells when re-exposed to the same antigen such as tumors, viruses, or bacteria previously encountered.

Lee Sang-hoon, CEO of ABL Bio, said, "In animal model tests with tumor recurrence, administration of the 4-1BB bispecific antibody immuno-oncology drug completely prevented tumor growth." He added, "Through the AACR presentation, we were able to prove the memory formation action of the 4-1BB bispecific antibody with data and once again demonstrate the excellence of the ‘Grabody-T’ bispecific antibody platform," expressing confidence in the Grabody-T bispecific antibody platform.

ABL Bio is jointly developing the bispecific antibody immuno-oncology drug ABL111 with the bio-venture I-Mab, aiming to complete preclinical toxicity tests and start clinical trials in the first half of next year. ABL Bio holds 210,000 shares in its partner I-Mab’s Nasdaq offering. Recently, I-Mab’s stock price has surged significantly.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.