On May 6, 2024 Innovent Biologics, Inc. ("Innovent") (HKEX: 01801), a world-class biopharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and commercializes high-quality medicines for the treatment of oncology, cardiovascular and metabolic, autoimmune, ophthalmology and other major diseases, reported that the Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) of China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation (BTD) for IBI343 as monotherapy for the treatment of claudin18.2-positive advanced gastric/gastro-esophageal junction adenocarcinoma (GC) patients who have progressed after at least 2 lines of prior systematic treatments (Press release, Innovent Biologics, MAY 6, 2024, View Source [SID1234642698]).
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The BTD for IBI343 was based on the data from an ongoing Phase 1 study (NCT05458219), in which favorable safety and tolerability and promising antitumor activity of IBI343 monotherapy in advanced GC patients were observed. The study results will be published at an upcoming medical conference later in 2024.
Innovent is preparing for a registrational Phase 3 multi-regional clinical trial (MRCT) of IBI343 in patients with claudin18.2-positive, HER2-negative GC (G-HOPE-001, NCT06238843) to be initiated soon.
Dr. Hui Zhou, Senior Vice President of Innovent, said, "GC patients tend to progress after second-line systematic therapies with poor prognosis and have only a half year of survival expectancy. They are in urgent need of effective third-line treatment options. We are glad to see the NMPA granted BTD for IBI343 monotherapy based on the PoC clinical results in GC, and we will continue to validate its efficacy and safety in the registrational MRCT trial. Innovent has a comprehensive and robust oncology pipeline, and, particularly in GC, we have PD-1 inhibitor (TYVYT) for first-line GC treatment and anti-angiogenic drug (CYRAMZA) for second-line GC treatment. We will further explore IBI343’s potential in combination therapy as well as in other solid tumors such as pancreatic cancer."
NMPA Breakthrough Therapy Designation is intended to facilitate and expedite the development and review of an investigational drug to treat a serious disease or condition when preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the drug has demonstrated substantial improvement over current therapies. The BTD will not only qualify a drug candidate to receive status for rapid review by the CDE, but it will also allow the sponsor to obtain timely advice and communication from the CDE to accelerate the approval and launch to address the unmet clinical need of patients at an accelerated pace. Click here for the published list of drugs that have been granted BTD by NMPA.
About Gastric/ Gastroesophageal Junction Adenocarcinoma
Gastric cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in the world and is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths globally. The 5-year survival rate of patients with metastatic gastric cancer is less than 5%[i]. China and Japan are countries with highest incidence of gastric cancer[ii]. Currently, chemotherapy combination of fluoropyrimidine and platinum and immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy are the standard-of-care treatments for patients with advanced metastatic gastric cancer. However, systemic therapy has limited efficacy in advanced gastric cancer. In particular, the prognosis for patients with third-line or higher gastric cancer is usually poor, with fewer treatment options and shorter survival expectations. The median survival times for these patients is only about 0.5 year[iii].
Claudin, a member of the tight junction molecule family, is a key structural and functional component of epithelial tight junctions. Among them, CLDN18.2 is normally buried in the gastric mucosa, but the development of malignancy leads to disruption of tight junctions and exposure of CLDN18.2 epitopes on the membrane of tumor cells[iv]. CLDN18.2 is expressed in up to 80% of patients with gastric cancer.
About IBI343 (Claudin18.2 ADC)
IBI343 is an antibody-drug conjugate composed of an anti-claudin18.2 antibody, and a cytotoxic drug exatecan. As a topoisomerase I inhibitor, exatecan effectively kills tumor cells by inhibiting DNA synthesis. Binding of IBI343 to claudin18.2-expressing tumor cells results in claudin18.2-dependent internalization of IBI343. Degradation of the cleavable linker will release the drug that causes DNA damage, leading to apoptosis of the tumor cells. The freed drug can also diffuse across the plasma membrane to reach and kill the neighboring tumor cells, resulting in a strong "bystander killing effect" of IBI343.