Abstract 1866: Discovery of mutation-independent EGFR degrading bispecific antibodies that suppress tumor growth in preclinical tumor models
Authors: Jonathan Sitrin, Lisa Marshall, Hai Tran, Kenneth Ng, Kimberly Hoi, Josef Gramespacher, Zhong Huang, Andy Goodrich, Filomena Housley, May Dayao, Man-Tzu Wang, Katarina Pance, Aleysha Chen, Kevin Carlin, Lichao Zhang, James Lee, Rami Hannoush, Ken Flanagan, Maia Vinogradova, Isaac Rondon, Shyra Gardai
Journal: Cancer Research (2024)

Abstract Extracellular targeted protein degradation (eTPD) has emerged as a promising new drug modality focused on targeted elimination of extracellular and transmembrane proteins. In contrast to intracellular protein degraders, such as proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) and molecular glues which require ubiquitin-proteosome cellular degradation pathways, extracellular protein degraders can additionally harness endosomal-lysosomal protein degradation. Two recently published examples of extracellular protein degraders include AbTACs (antibody-based PROTAC) which co-engage a protein of interest (POI) and transmembrane E3 ligases, and KineTACs (cytokine receptor-targeting chimeras) which utilize endogenous cytokine receptors to degrade extracellular POIs. These bispecific antibody degrader platforms not only have advantageous pharmacological and drug-like manufacturing properties, but can also be engineered for tissue-specificity and to address multiple complementary targets, with the goal of increased efficacy and decreased toxicity. To that end, we have greatly expanded the extracellular degrader repertoire beyond AbTACs and KineTACs, with a novel bispecific antibody degrader platform called TrainTACs (tissue receptor antigen internalization targeting chimeras). To demonstrate the potential of this novel extracellular degrading platform, we developed degraders for the canonical receptor tyrosine kinase epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). EGFR is an oncogenic driver, that has been clinically validated in lung, colorectal and head and neck cancers, but patient benefit has been limited by treatment-related acquired resistance mutations and on-target/off-tumor dose-limiting toxicities. The potential of our TrainTACs, AbTACs and KineTACs to overcome the limitations of current therapeutic modalities was assessed. Gene expression profiles from tumor and normal tissues were evaluated to identify potential degraders co-expressed with EGFR in tumors. More than 70 unique bispecific antibody constructs spanning 20 receptors were generated and screened in tumor cell-based assays to evaluate EGFR antagonism, internalization, and degradation. TrainTACs, AbTACs and KineTACs degraded EGFR in multiple tumor cell lines covering a range of EGFR mutations. Degradation of EGFR led to deep inhibition of EGFR signaling, robust inhibitory effects on tumor spheroids, and in xenograft mouse tumor models. In conclusion, eTPD represents a promising new drug modality, and TrainTACs, AbTACs and KineTACs have expanded the toolbox of extracellular targeted protein degraders that can be utilized in a target-, tissue- and disease-specific manner. Citation Format: Jonathan Sitrin, Lisa Marshall, Hai Tran, Kenneth Ng, Kimberly Hoi, Josef Gramespacher, Zhong Huang, Andy Goodrich, Filomena Housley, May Dayao, Man-Tzu Wang, Katarina Pance, Aleysha Chen, Kevin Carlin, Lichao Zhang, James Lee, Rami Hannoush, Ken Flanagan, Maia Vinogradova, Isaac Rondon, Shyra Gardai. Discovery of mutation-independent EGFR degrading bispecific antibodies that suppress tumor growth in preclinical tumor models [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 1866.