Abstract 867: ABT-165 is a first-in-class therapeutic Dual Variable Domain Immunoglobulin (DVD-IgTM) that targets DLL4 and VEGF for the treatment of cancer
Authors: Li Yingchun , Hickson Jonathan , Ambrosi Dominic , Haasch Deanna , Foster-Duke Kelly , Eaton Lucia , Jiang Fang , Akella Surekha , Gao Wenqing , Ralston Sherry , Gu Jijie , Morgan-Lappe Susan 
Published: July 2016

The first generation anti-angiogenic drugs designed to block the VEGF/VEGFR pathway lend modest clinical benefit for cancer patients. Other than VEGF, DLL4 is the only known angiogenic factor with a haploinsufficiency phenotype, underscoring its essential role in vascular function. Indeed, both the VEGF/VEGFR and the DLL4/Notch signaling axes are known to cooperate during pathological angiogenesis. DLL4 is also implicated in VEGF-independent pathways, cancer stem cell survival, and immune suppression that could collectively contribute to tumor cell resistance. Given both intrinsic and acquired patient resistance mechanisms exist, targeting the DLL4/Notch pathway represents a unique opportunity for a combination strategy to improve upon current VEGF/VEGFR pathway inhibitor therapies. To this end, ABT-165 was developed as a first-in-class dual specific biologic using AbbVie's proprietary dual-variable domain immunoglobulin (DVD-IgTM) technology. ABT-165 is capable of simultaneously binding to DLL4 and VEGF with nanomolar affinities and blocking the cognate ligand-receptor interactions that result in the potent inhibition of DLL4-mediated Notch1 activation and VEGF-stimulated endothelial cell proliferation. ABT-165 is functionally superior in vitro compared to the combination of parental anti-VEGF and anti-DLL4 antibodies. In human tumor xenograft models, ABT-165 induced significant inhibition of tumor growth and survival benefit compared to single anti-DLL4 or anti-VEGF antibody treatments at equivalent doses. Mechanistically, this enhancement of anti-tumor efficacy is due in part to the disruption of new tumor vasculature coupled with blockade of vessel perfusion. Furthermore, ABT-165 in combination with cytotoxic chemotherapy agents induced tumor regression, which outperformed bevacizumab plus chemotherapy in both human breast and colon xenograft models. ABT-165 displays non-linear, dose-dependent pharmacokinetic profiles in mice and cynomolgus monkeys, with an apparent terminal half-life &gt; 5 days in both species at a target saturation dose. In a GLP monkey toxicity study, ABT-165 at doses up to 200 mg/kg was well-tolerated with non-adverse treatment-related histopathology findings limited to the liver and thymus. In contrast, adverse and non-adverse findings were observed in the hearts of rats and monkeys, respectively, with an in-house proprietary anti-DLL4 antibody. Given that coupling of anti-DLL4 with anti-VEGF activities into a DVD-Ig may lend improved safety and/or efficacy profiles compared to antibodies, ABT-165 was advanced into a Phase 1 clinical trial.

Disclosures: All authors are employees of AbbVie. The design, study conduct, and financial support for this research were provided by AbbVie.

AbbVie participated in the interpretation of data, review, and approval of the publication.

Citation Format: Yingchun Li, Jonathan Hickson, Dominic Ambrosi, Deanna Haasch, Kelly Foster-Duke, Lucia Eaton, Fang Jiang, Surekha Akella, Wenqing Gao, Sherry Ralston, Jijie Gu, Susan Morgan-Lappe. ABT-165 is a first-in-class therapeutic Dual Variable Domain Immunoglobulin (DVD-IgTM) that targets DLL4 and VEGF for the treatment of cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 867.