Abstract 4565: IMGN529: A therapeutic maytansinoid conjugate of an anti-CD37 antibody with multiple mechanisms of action for B-cell lymphoma and leukemia
Authors: Deckert Jutta , Mayo Michele F. , Yi Yong , Li Min , Chicklas Sharon , Tavares Daniel J. , Pinkas Jan , Chittenden Thomas D. , Lutz Robert J. , Lambert John M. , Park Peter U. 
Published: June 2012

CD37 is a B-cell surface antigen that is an attractive target for antibody and antibody-drug conjugate mediated therapies due to its restricted expression profile. It is expressed on malignant B-cells in NHL and CLL, but on normal tissue its expression is highly restricted to B-cells present in blood and lymphoid tissues.

A large panel of anti-CD37 murine monoclonal antibodies were generated and screened for their specific CD37 binding affinity, direct anti-proliferative activity and pro-apoptotic activity against lymphoma cell lines. Selected antibodies were humanized by variable domain resurfacing and one antibody, designated K7153A, demonstrated the best overall activity in terms of direct antibody activity as well as effector function. K7153A demonstrated much stronger pro-apoptotic activity against Ramos and Raji cells than either of two reference compounds, the anti-CD37 SMIP TRU-016 or the anti-CD20 antibody rituximab, and did not require cross-linking to achieve this effect.

The antibody-maytansinoid conjugate, IMGN529, was produced by conjugation of K7153A with the potent maytansinoid, DM1, via the non-cleavable linker, SMCC. IMGN529 retains the high specific binding affinity of the K7153A antibody, with an EC50 of 0.5 nM. IMGN529 also demonstrated the same strong pro-apoptotic activity as the K7153A antibody against Ramos cells, with an EC50 of 0.1 nM. Antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) assays, using purified human NK cells as effector cells, showed that K7153A and IMGN529 have similar potent ADCC activity against Ramos and Daudi cells with an EC50 of less than 10 pM. In addition, both K7153A and IMGN529 demonstrated comparable complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) in the presence of human complement against Ramos cells. These results indicate that IMGN529 retains the intrinsic functions of the K7153A antibody.

IMGN529 was highly cytotoxic in vitro against NHL cell lines such as Daudi, BJAB, Namalwa and SU-DHL-4 with a greater degree of cell killing and lower EC50 value (19 – 36 pM) than the K7153 antibody alone. In contrast, TRU-016 showed no effect on any of these cell lines and rituximab was only active against SU-DHL-4 cells.

In vivo, IMGN529 showed markedly higher efficacy against established SU-DHL-4 and BJAB xenograft tumors than the K7153A antibody alone, with significant anti-tumor activity at single doses of 5 mg/kg or lower. Together, these results demonstrate that IMGN529 combines the strong pro-apoptotic activity, CDC and ADCC activity of its anti-CD37 antibody component with the potent cytotoxic activity provided by the targeted delivery of its maytansinoid payload. IMGN529 is a highly active antibody-drug conjugate with a unique combination of anti-tumor activities and is therefore a promising therapeutic candidate for the treatment of CD37-positive lymphomas and leukemias.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4565. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-4565