Abstract C033: HPN328: An anti-DLL3 T cell engager for treatment of small cell lung cancer
Authors: Aaron Wade H , Austin Richard , Barath Manasi , Callihan Evan , Cremin Michael , Evans Thomas , Gamez Maria , Ganti Vaishnavi , Hemmati Golzar , Kwant Kathryn , Law Che-Leung , Lemon Bryan , Lao Llewelyn , Molloy Mary Ellen , O’Rear Jessica , Sun Laura , Wesche Holger , Yu Stephen , Yu Timothy 
Published: March 2020

HPN328: An Anti-DLL3 T Cell Engager for Treatment of Small Cell Lung Cancer Delta-like protein 3 (DLL3) is a Notch inhibitory ligand is expressed in more than 70% of small cell lung cancers (SCLCs), while there is little to no surface expression in normal adult tissues outside of the CNS *1. SCLC is an aggressive neuroendocrine tumor that represents about 15 percent of all lung cancers. Although often responsive to standard of care treatment, relapse is common, with a median progression-free survival of 2–3 months and median overall survival (OS) of 8–13 months and 5-year OS rate of &lt;5%*2. DLL3 thus represents an attractive potential target for T cell–redirecting immunotherapy in SCLC. HPN328 is a tri-specific T cell activating construct (TriTAC) consisting of three binding domains: a N-terminal single chain Fv (scFv) that binds to CD3ϵ of the T cell receptor (TCR), a middle single domain antibody (sdAb) that binds to human serum albumin (HSA) to extend the half-life, and a C-terminal sdAb that binds to human DLL3. HPN328 is designed to simultaneously engage DLL3 on a target SCLC cell and CD3 on a T cell resulting in T cell activation, proliferation, and the eventual lysis of the target lung cancer cell. HPN328 is a highly stable single polypeptide of ~ 53 kDa expressed in CHO cells. It binds to human and cynomolgus monkey DLL3, albumin, and CD3ϵ with similar affinities. Flow cytometry analysis of T cells from various normal donors and a panel of DLL3 positive and DLL3 negative tumor cell lines confirmed binding of HPN328 to its native targets expressed on the cell surface. HPN328 induces potent killing of DLL3 expressing SCLC cell lines in vitro. In co-cultures of T cells from normal human donors, target tumor cells, and HSA, HPN328 mediated dose-dependent and DLL3-dependent cytotoxicity. Concomitant with target tumor cell killing, HPN328 also mediated dose-dependent upregulation of CD25 and CD69 on T cells in the TDCC co-cultures when DLL3 positive tumor cells were present. Consistent with the mechanism of action of CD3-based T cell engaging molecules, T cell derived cytokines, including TNFα, IL-2 and IFNγ, were detected. Nonclinical in vivo properties of HPN328 were evaluated in an NCI-H82 SCLC established tumor model. When administered to mice bearing human SCLC xenografts and human T cells, HPN328 eradicated subcutaneous tumors. In a single dose pilot toxicity study in cynomolgus monkeys, HPN328 was well tolerated at 1 and 10 mg/kg. Pharmacodynamic changes such as transient cytokine elevation mainly at the high dose were observed, consistent with the expected mechanism of action of T cell engagers. There were no clinically significant or adverse test article-related changes in hematology or clinical chemistry, and no apparent adverse findings at terminal and recovery necropsy. HPN328 exhibited linear PK properties in the given dose range with a serum half-life of 64 to 85 hours. Pharmacokinetic analysis supports weekly administration of HPN328 in humans. Preclinical and nonclinical characterization suggests that HPN328 is a highly efficacious, safe, and novel therapeutic candidate. A first-in-human phase 1 clinical trial is planned to evaluate HPN328 in SCLC. *1. Saunders, L et al. (2015) Sci Transl Med. 7(302): 302ra136. *2. Navarro, A et al. (2017) Transl Lung Cancer Res. 6(1): S78–S83.

Citation Format: Wade H Aaron, Richard Austin, Manasi Barath, Evan Callihan, Michael Cremin, Thomas Evans, Maria Gamez, Vaishnavi Ganti, Golzar Hemmati, Kathryn Kwant, Che-Leung Law, Bryan Lemon, Llewelyn Lao, Mary Ellen Molloy, Jessica O’Rear, Laura Sun, Holger Wesche, Stephen Yu, Timothy Yu. HPN328: An anti-DLL3 T cell engager for treatment of small cell lung cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2019 Oct 26-30; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2019;18(12 Suppl):Abstract nr C033. doi:10.1158/1535-7163.TARG-19-C033