Clinical-stage biotech company Anbogen announced on Friday that it has entered into a collaboration with BeiGene (Nasdaq:BGNE)(SEHK:6160)(SSE:688235), a pharmaceutical company, to evaluate the combination of Anbogen's HDAC inhibitor, ABT-301, and BeiGene's anti-PD-1 antibody, tislelizumab, in a global Phase II trial targeting mismatch repair–proficient (pMMR) or microsatellite stable (MSS) metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

Over 95% of mCRC patients, whose tumours are pMMR/MSS, do not benefit from current immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), highlighting a critical unmet need. ABT-301, a novel HDAC inhibitor, has demonstrated a favourable safety profile and potential to enhance ICI effectiveness by modulating the immune response in preclinical studies.

The upcoming trial will assess the safety, tolerability, and preliminary efficacy of the ABT-301 and tislelizumab combination, with and without Bevacizumab, in these patients. BeiGene will supply tislelizumab for this study.

Enrollment is slated to begin in Q1 2025 at multiple centres.