On May 30, 2024 Almac Discovery, a research driven drug discovery company and member of the Almac Group, reported the nomination of a new pre-clinical candidate molecule (ALM-401), a First in Class Bispecific Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) for the treatment of refractory lung cancer, characterised by dual expression of ROR1 and EGFR (Press release, Almac, MAY 30, 2024, View Source [SID1234643843]).
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ALM-401 has demonstrated an excellent preclinical efficacy profile in a range of models when benchmarked against clinical stage ROR1 targeting ADCs, as well as strong preclinical development potential.
The bispecific nature of ALM-401 enhances both the activity and selectivity of the product relative to monospecific drug conjugates, delivering sustained regressions in a series of NSCLC PDX models, and with a consistently improved efficacy profile relative to a clinical stage monospecific ROR1 targeting ADC. ALM-401 has a pleiotropic mechanism of action: in addition to direct tumour cell-killing, it blocks EGFR-mediated signalling and induces bystander killing for increased therapeutic activity. The architecture of ALM-401 has been designed to be half the size of a conventional ADC to promote improved tumour penetration and ease of manufacture.
Dr Graham Cotton, Vice President Protein Therapeutics at Almac Discovery, said: "The nomination of this candidate drug represents a significant value inflection point in the development of our ADC portfolio and an important step forward in our search for new treatments for solid tumours. This molecule has arisen from our strategic collaboration with Elasmogen Ltd, and we are confident that ALM-401 has the potential to progress to a First-in-Class drug which exploits the co-localisation of these clinically validated targets."
Prof. Tim Harrison, VP Drug Discovery at Almac Discovery, added: "We see the emergence of new ADC formats including bispecific and biparatopic pairings as an important stepping stone in the evolution of ADCs, and are excited about the potential of ALM-401. We are now seeking to identify a partner to accelerate the clinical development of this molecule."