Benzinga | Apr 12, 2021 10:15AM EDT

NextCure Saturday Morning Announced Preclinical Data For NC762 At American Association For Cancer Research Conference

NextCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTC), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to discovering and developing novel, first-in-class immunomedicines to treat cancer and other immune-related diseases, today presented preclinical and investigational new drug (IND)-enabling data for NC762 at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2021. NC762 is a humanized monoclonal antibody specific for B7-H4 and is being developed for the treatment of cancer.

"The research presented by our team reinforces our confidence that NC762, our third program, is a novel immunomedicine with unique anti-tumor properties. We believe it has the potential to provide benefit in multiple oncology indications, particularly in cancers where high B7-H4 expression has been observed, such as breast, ovarian and lung cancers," said Michael Richman, NextCure's president and chief executive officer. "We look forward to advancing NC762 into the clinic this quarter and continuing our efforts to broaden our pipeline of innovative immunomedicines for patients."

Key highlights from the presentation include:

* NC762 demonstrated specificity for human B7-H4, which is widely expressed in multiple cancers.

* In a dose-dependent manner, NC762 inhibited tumor growth in a xenograft murine tumor model in the absence of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs).

* The inhibitory effect of NC762 on tumor growth was not dependent on T cells or NK cells; however, NK cells contributed to enhanced anti-tumor activity mediated by NC762.

* Binding to Fc gamma receptors was not required for NC762 activity, suggesting a novel antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC)-independent mechanism for tumor inhibition.

* IND-enabling studies in non-human primates demonstrated a half-life of approximately 8-10 days and no safety concerns in toxicology studies or cytokine release assays were observed.

Details of the poster presentation are as follows:

Poster Title: Development and Functional Characterization of NC762, a Novel Therapeutic Antibody Targeting B7-H4, for the Treatment of Malignancies

Session Title: Tumor-Immune System Interactions

Abstract: 3193

About NC762

NC762 is a monoclonal antibody targeting B7-H4, a protein expressed on multiple tumor types. We believe NC762 acts by inhibiting tumor cell growth and killing tumor cells, including by enhancing immune response. In preclinical studies, NC762 inhibits the growth of human melanoma tumors in mice and inhibits tumor cell growth independently of immune cell infiltration in the tumor microenvironment. We believe that NC762 has the potential to treat multiple tumor types.