4 September 2020 - - US-based biopharmaceutical company Xencor, Inc. (NASDAQ: XNCR) and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have forged a strategic collaboration to study investigational treatments for patients with a variety of cancer types, the principals said.

The parties will collaborate to design and execute additional clinical studies with Xencor's portfolio of XmAb drug candidates, including novel bispecific antibodies and engineered cytokines.

Xencor is committing to funding and supporting these studies over an initial five-year term.

Xencor's clinical-stage bispecific antibodies and cytokines are engineered with a heterodimer Fc domain (antibody tail), which enables their rapid design, simplified development and stable structure.

Nine XmAb bispecific antibodies and one engineered cytokine are being evaluated in Phase 1 clinical studies conducted by Xencor and its partners:

CD3 bispecific antibodies contain a tumor associated antigen binding domain and a second binding domain targeted to CD3, an activating receptor on T cells, with the goal to recruit or activate T cells against tumors with the antigen target.

Xencor's CD3 bispecific candidates in Phase 1 development include vibecotamab (CD123 x CD3) for patients with acute myeloid leukemia, plamotamab (CD20 x CD3) for patients with B cell malignancies and tidutamab (SSTR2 x CD3) for patients with neuroendocrine tumors and gastrointestinal stromal tumors.

Tumor microenvironment activator bispecific antibodies promote tumor-selective T-cell activation by targeting multiple checkpoints or co-stimulating receptors.

TME bispecifics incorporate Xencor's Xtend technology for longer half-life. XmAb20717 (PD1 x CTLA4), XmAb22841 (CTLA4 x LAG3) and XmAb23104 (PD1 x ICOS) are being evaluated in Phase 1 studies in patients with select advanced solid tumors.

Cytokines built with Xencor's XmAb bispecific Fc domain have their potencies tuned to improve therapeutic index and also incorporate Xtend technology for longer half-life.

Xencor and its co-development partner Genentech are evaluating XmAb24306, a novel IL15 cytokine-Fc fusion protein, in a Phase 1 study in patients with solid tumors.

Xencor is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing engineered monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases.

Currently, 18 candidates engineered with Xencor's XmAb technology are in clinical development internally and with partners.

Xencor's XmAb antibody engineering technology enables small changes to the structure of monoclonal antibodies resulting in new mechanisms of therapeutic action.

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston is focused on cancer patient care, research, education and prevention.

MD Anderson is one of only 51 comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute.