2 October 2019 - - UK-based antibody drug conjugates developer Iksuda Therapeutics has released the first data on its lead ADC, IKS01. IKS01, an ADC targeting the folate receptor, has shown significant anti-tumour efficacy in pre-clinical models of ovarian and lung tumours, each of which included a broad range of folate-receptor alpha expression, the company said.

The data was presented at ESMO Congress 2019 in Barcelona, Spain.

ADCs allow for the targeted delivery of a potent cytotoxic payload to tumours, resulting in selective killing with increased efficacy and less off-target toxicity than standard-of-care chemotherapies.

Frequent over-expression of FRA in ovarian and non-small-cell lung cancer (accounting for 80% of lung cancer cases) and relative lack of expression in normal tissue, make it an attractive therapeutic target.

However, anti-tumour activity is generally limited to patients whose tumours express high levels of FRA.

IKS01 is an ADC comprised of an FRA-targeting antibody conjugated via Iksuda's PermaLink technology to Femtogenix's highly potent FGX2-62 payload.

IKS01 is target specific and these new data confirm that it is highly effective in causing tumour regression in FRA-expressing models at doses that are well-tolerated, significantly more active than a benchmark ADC and caused complete regressions in low/moderate FRA-expressing models.

The IKS01 data is a major advancement of Iksuda's ADC drug pipeline, from which it aims to progress multiple candidates towards first clinical studies in 2020.

Iksuda Therapeutics' will be exhibiting its poster: 'IKS01, a next generation antibody drug conjugate designed to be efficacious in tumors with low and moderate levels of folate receptor alpha expression' until 1st October at ESMO Congress 2019, presentation number 58P.