Biopharmaceutical company CARsgen Therapeutics reported on Monday the receipt of the Investigational New Drug (IND) clearance from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) in China for the AB011 humanized claudin18.2 monoclonal antibody.

The company added that the AB011 humanized claudin18.2 monoclonal antibody has received the NMPA clearance for the treatment of patients suffering from advanced gastric and pancreatic adenocarcinoma in China.

According to the company, AB011 is the first humanized monoclonal antibody targeting claudin18.2 entering clinical trials.

CARsgen Therapeutics stated that claudin18.2 is a stomach-specific isoform of claudin-18 (1-3). It is only expressed in short-lived differentiated cells and not expressed in the stem cell zone of the stomach mucosa. Pathologically, it is highly expressed in a variety of cancer types, including gastric and pancreatic cancer. These characteristics suggest that claudin18.2 is a rational target for cancer.