Benzinga | Apr 12, 2021 09:59AM EDT

Immunogen Saturday Morning Announced Preclinical Data On IMGC936 At American Association For Cancer Research Conference

First-in-Class ADAM9-Targeting ADC Demonstrates Anti-Tumor Activity in Multiple Solid Tumor Models

ImmunoGen Inc. (NASDAQ:IMGN), a leader in the expanding field of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for the treatment of cancer, today announced that a poster highlighting preclinical data for its novel ADAM9-targeting ADC, IMGC936, which is being investigated in multiple solid tumor types, is being presented at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Virtual Annual Meeting April 10-15, 2021.

"ADAM9 is overexpressed in a wide range of solid tumors and minimally expressed on normal tissue, which makes it an ideal ADC target," said Eric Westin, MD, Vice President, Clinical Development and Translational Sciences at ImmunoGen. "IMGC936 showed compelling anti-tumor activity against multiple patient-derived xenograft models with clinically relevant levels of ADAM9 and was well-tolerated across all models tested. We continue to enroll patients in our Phase 1 dose-escalation study of IMGC936 in multiple tumor types and look forward to sharing initial data by the end of 2021 or early 2022."

POSTER PRESENTATION

* Title: "IMGC936, an investigational ADAM9-targeting antibody-drug conjugate, is active against patient-derived ADAM9-expressing xenograft models"

* Day/Time: Saturday, April 10, 2021 at 8:30 AM ET

* Session Category: Immunology

* Session Title: PO.IM02.10 - Therapeutic Antibodies, Including Engineered Antibodies

* Abstract: 1841 Additional information can be found at www.aacr.org. ABOUT IMGC936 IMGC936 is a first-in-class ADAM9-targeting antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) that is comprised of a humanized antibody engineered to include a YTE mutation for enhanced exposure through improved recycling, a tri-peptide cleavable linker stable in circulation, and a next-generation DM21 maytansinoid payload, which is more potent and hydrophobic, resulting in increased bystander activity. ADAM9 is a cell surface protein that belongs to the ADAM (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase) family of proteases, which have been implicated in cytokine and growth factor shedding and cell migration. Dysregulation of ADAM9 has been involved in tumor progression and metastasis, as well as pathological neovascularization. ADAM9 is overexpressed in multiple solid tumor types (e.g., non-small cell lung, gastric, pancreatic, triple-negative breast, and colorectal cancers) and minimally expressed on normal tissue, making ADAM9 an attractive target for ADC development. IMGC936 is being co-developed with MacroGenics and is currently in a Phase 1 study enrolling patients with solid tumors that express ADAM9.