Abstract 2936: INCA33890, a novel PD-1×TGFꞵR2 bispecific antibody conditionally antagonizes TGFꞵ signaling in primary immune cells co-expressing PD-1
Authors: Wang Liang-Chuan S. , Klooster Rinse , Kulkarni Ashwini , de Vinuesa Amaya Garcia , Soloviev Maxim , Hendriks Linda JA , Huo Lu , Weber Michael , Mondal Arpita , Zhao Yonghong , Harvey Shane , He Xin , Chang Hong , Horsey April , Volgina Alla , Zhang Yue , Pandey Veethika , Yang Yan-Ou , Rios-Doria Jonathan , Eruslanov Evgeniy , Powell Daniel J. , Albelda Steven M. , de Kruif John , Nastri Horacio , Geuijen Cecile , Mayes Patrick A. 
Published: April 2023

Transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ) signaling is common in many solid tumors and is initiated by binding of the high affinity canonical ligands TGFβ1, 2, οr 3 to TGFβR2, which forms a heteromeric receptor complex with TGFβR1 (Derynck et al, Nature Review Clinical Oncology 2020). Activation of the pathway results in potent suppression of immune cell-mediated anti-tumor immunity and has been reported to predict poor response to PD-(L)1 targeted therapy in patients (Mariathasan et al, Nature 2018; Kieffer et al, Cancer Discovery 2020). However, TGFβ drug development has been hampered by the occurrence of adverse events. INCA33890 is a dual PD-1 and TGFβR2 binding bispecific Biclonics® antibody, developed to antagonize the TGFβ signaling pathway specifically in cells co-expressing PD-1 and TGFBR2. Additionally, it potently antagonizes the PD-1 axis independently of TGFβR2 co-expression. The cell-selective action of INCA33890 was designed to mitigate risks of the known adverse effects associated with TGFβ-pathway inhibition in tissues requiring active TGFβ signaling. ΙΝCΑ33890 mediates its specificity through a PD-1 binding arm with a &gt;10-fold higher affinity relative to the TGFβR2 binding arm. Consistent with this profile, in isogenic Jurkat cells expressing TGFβR2 ± PD-1, INCA33890 potently inhibits TGFβ1-induced pSMAD activation in a PD-1-correlated manner. Additionally, in two independent PD-1 reporter assays, INCA33890 inhibited SHP recruitment and enhanced NFAT activation with a potency within an order of magnitude to that of pembrolizumab. In mixed lymphocyte reaction assays with exhausted primary human T-cells, INCA33890 was found to induce a similar level of anti-tumor cytokine production as the combination of pembrolizumab and an anti-TGFβR2 antagonist mAb. Treatment of primary ovarian ascites with INCA33890 ex vivo induced IFNγ production in all donors tested, while pembrolizumab had no activity. Similarly, in human CD34+ cell-engrafted NSG mice, INCA33890 significantly inhibited the growth of human MDA-MB-231 and A375 subcutaneous xenograft tumors, whereas pembrolizumab or an anti-TGFβR2 antibody had little or no monotherapy activity. INCA33890 had a balanced pharmacokinetic and potency profile and was well tolerated in NHPs at exposures required for pharmacodynamic and tumor growth inhibiting activity in rodents. Encouragingly, there was no evidence of adverse effects in NHPs due to TGFβ-pathway blockade. Collectively, these results provide compelling data for an effective and specific approach to simultaneously antagonizing TGFβ and PD-1 signaling in tumors. Clinical development of INCA33890 in checkpoint inhibitor-resistant and other cancers has been initiated.

Citation Format: Liang-Chuan S. Wang, Rinse Klooster, Ashwini Kulkarni, Amaya Garcia de Vinuesa, Maxim Soloviev, Linda JA Hendriks, Lu Huo, Michael Weber, Arpita Mondal, Yonghong Zhao, Shane Harvey, Xin He, Hong Chang, April Horsey, Alla Volgina, Yue Zhang, Veethika Pandey, Yan-Ou Yang, Jonathan Rios-Doria, Evgeniy Eruslanov, Daniel J. Powell, Steven M. Albelda, John de Kruif, Horacio Nastri, Cecile Geuijen, Patrick A. Mayes. INCA33890, a novel PD-1×TGFꞵR2 bispecific antibody conditionally antagonizes TGFꞵ signaling in primary immune cells co-expressing PD-1 [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 2936.