On July 1, 2024 Innovent Biologics, Inc. ("Innovent"), 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 oral presentation of the latest Phase 1 clinical data of an innovative anti-CLDN18.2 ADC (IBI343) for the treatment of advanced gastric/gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma (G/GEJ AC) at the ESMO (Free ESMO Whitepaper) Gastrointestinal Cancers (ESMO GI) Congress 2024 (NCT05458219) (Press release, Innovent Biologics, JUL 1, 2024, View Source [SID1234644642]). The data demonstrates promising efficacy and a favorable safety profile for IBI343 in patients with advanced gastric cancer whose tumors express CLDN18.2.

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Gastric cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in the world. According to the GLOBOCAN 2022 statistics[1], gastric cancer ranks as the 5th most common malignant tumor and the 5th leading cause of cancer death around the world. It accounts for an estimated 970,000 cases and 660,000 deaths worldwide. Each year, China reports 359,000 new cases and 260,000 deaths from gastric cancer, representing 37.0% and 39.4% of the global totals, respectively, highlighting a significant unmet medical need.

The data presented at this conference is from a Phase 1 study conducted in China and Australia with IBI343 and are as follows:

In participants with high expression of CLDN18.2 (≥75% tumor cells with membranous staining intensity ≥2+ by IHC) at the 6 mg/Kg dose (N=30), the ORR and DCR were 36.7% and 93.3%, respectively. At the 8 mg/kg dose (N=17), the ORR was 47.1% and the DCR was 88.2%.
With a median follow-up time of 7.2 months in the 6 mg/kg dose group, the median progression-free survival (mPFS) of participants with high CLDN18.2 expression was up to 6.8 months.
The majority of treatment emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were grade 1-2. In the 6 mg/kg dose group, 31.6% patients had ≥ Grade 3 treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs). ≥ Grade 3 gastrointestinal toxicities were extremely low (<5%). No interstitial lung disease (ILD) occurred.
Dr Jia (Jenny) Liu, translational lead of early phase clinical trials at The Kinghorn Cancer Centre, St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney, said: "As a next generation anti-CLDN18.2 antibody-drug conjugate that is Fc silenced, IBI343 has shown encouraging tolerability and clinical benefit in patients with advanced gastric and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinomas that had moderate to high expression of CLDN18.2. Furthermore, the gastrointestinal toxicity of the drug we observed in the Phase 1 trial appears lower than that of other drugs targeting CLDN18.2, and there were no cases of interstitial lung disease. We look forward to seeing the results of ongoing Phase 3 trials comparing the efficacy and tolerability of IBI343 with standard-of-care treatments."

Dr. Hui Zhou, Senior Vice President of Innovent Biologics, said, "With a unique ADC platform designed to deliver effective and more tolerable therapeutics, the data in gastric cancer is a testimony to the molecular design of IBI343. We will further explore IBI343 in combination with other treatments, including immunotherapies, across different tumor types in order to benefit cancer patients worldwide. As a pioneer company in the field of oncology, Innovent is committed to advancing and promoting global innovation to develop and commercialize high quality biopharmaceuticals that are affordable to ordinary people."

Apart from gastric cancer, Innovent is also exploring IBI343’s therapeutic potential in solid tumors such as pancreatic cancer. Earlier this month, the data from the Phase 1 clinical study of IBI343 in the treatment of patients with pancreatic cancer were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) 2024 Annual Meeting, demonstrating encouraging efficacy and a favorable safety profile. [details link]

About Gastric/ Gastroesophageal Junction Adenocarcinoma

Gastric cancer is one of the most prevalent malignant tumors worldwide and a leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally. The 5-year survival rate of patients with metastatic gastric cancer is less than 5%[2]. China and Japan have the highest incidence rates of gastric cancer[3]. Currently, the standard-of-care treatments for patients with advanced metastatic gastric cancer include a chemotherapy combination of fluoropyrimidine and platinum, as well as immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy. 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[4].

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[5]. CLDN18.2 is expressed in up to 80% of patients with gastric cancer.

About IBI343（Anti CLDN18.2 ADC）

IBI343 is a recombinant human anti-CLDN18.2 monoclonal antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) developed by Innovent Biologics. IBI343 binds to the CLDN18.2-expressing tumor cells, the CLDN18.2 dependent ADC internalization will occur and the drug is released resulting in DNA damage and eventually apoptosis of the tumor cells. The freed drug can also diffuse across the plasma membrane to reach and kill the neighboring cells, resulting in "bystander killing effect".

As an innovative TOPO1i ADC, IBI343 has demonstrated tolerable safety and encouraging efficacy signals in this Phase 1 clinical studies. The therapeutic potential of IBI343 is currently being explored in tumor types such as gastric cancer and pancreatic cancer.

In May 2024, China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) granted breakthrough therapy designation (BTD) to IBI343 for use as a single agent in patients with CLDN18.2–positive gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma who experienced disease progression following two prior lines of systemic treatment. The multi-center Phase 3 trial of IBI343 for this indication is in preparation. In June 2024, IBI343 received Fast Track Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of advanced unresectable or metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) that has relapsed and/or is refractory to one prior line of therapy.