Anbogen Therapeutics Inc (TPEx:7784), a Taiwan-based, clinical-stage precision oncology company, announced on Sunday that it has entered into a Collaborative Research Agreement (CRA) with the Laboratory of Veterinary Surgery, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, to evaluate ABT-301 (Imofinostat), the company's selective Class I histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi), across multiple solid tumour types (including osteosarcoma, melanoma, soft tissue sarcoma, bladder cancers and other refractory solid tumours) using established veterinary oncology models.

According to Anbogen, the research team brings extensive expertise in translational oncology, cancer immunotherapy, and genomic medicine in companion animals, and operates one of Asia's most comprehensive comparative oncology platforms.

The primary strategic objective of this collaboration is to generate the scientific evidence required to support the expansion of ABT-301's human clinical indications and to optimise the compound's combination strategies ahead of future clinical trials.

ABT-301 is currently being evaluated in a Phase I/II clinical trial in combination with anti-PD-1 and anti-VEGF in patients with pMMR/non-MSI-High metastatic colorectal cancer. As an isoform-selective Class I HDACi, ABT-301 is designed to modulate the tumour immune microenvironment and sensitise tumours to immune checkpoint inhibition where lies the potential applicability across immunologically cold solid tumours. Independent Phase III clinical studies evaluating other HDAC inhibitors in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors have demonstrated significant synergistic efficacy in advanced cancers, including a marked improvement in progression-free survival (PFS). These external clinical findings provide strong proof-of-concept for the HDAC inhibitor–immune checkpoint inhibitor combination strategy, and further support the clinical development of ABT-301 across multiple cancer indications, Anbogen said.