Biond Biologics Ltd, an Israel-based company that says it develops therapies that target novel oncology pathways and enable the intracellular delivery of biologics, announced on Tuesday, that it has entered into a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.

The agreement is intended to assess Biond's immunotherapy agent BND-35, in combination with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany's anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody cetuximab (Erbitux) in a Phase one clinical trial (BND-35-001, NCT06274437) for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic solid tumours.

Under the terms of this agreement, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany will supply Biond Biologics with cetuximab to support Biond's Phase 1 clinical trial, aimed at evaluating the safety and efficacy of BND-35 in combination with cetuximab. Enrolment to the BND-35 dose-escalation monotherapy arm has already begun and several patients have already been dosed.

BND-35 is a novel anti-ILT3 (LILRB4) antibody that inhibits the interaction between ILT3 and various extracellular matrix ligands, which includes fibronectin, a major component of many tumour microenvironments (TME).