Hong Kong-based biopharma Arbele announced that its CDH17 × CD3 bispecific T-Cell engager antibody, ARB202, has entered a Phase I clinical trial in the United States for advanced gastrointestinal cancer patients. The potential first-in-class drug has been dosed in the first patient, with the Phase I multi-center, open-label dose-escalation study designed to determine the tolerability and dose level for the drug (NCT05411133).
Drug Mechanism
Cadherin-17 (CDH17) is a calcium-dependent transmembrane glycoprotein that mediates cell-cell adhesion in intestinal epithelium. The protein is expressed in gastric, pancreatic, and colorectal adenocarcinomas but not in other tumor types, with particularly high prevalence in East Asian patients. Preclinical data show that ARB202 can effectively increase interactions between T cells and target cancer cells that express CDH17.
Study Details
The Phase I study is currently being conducted at sites in Australia and Hong Kong. Arbele, which operates R & D sites in Hong Kong, Seattle, Sydney, Guangzhou, and Singapore, plans to extend the study to the US, China, Japan, and Singapore.-Fineline Info & Tech
