Benzinga | Jan 19, 2022 08:17AM EST

CytomX Therapeutics Announces FDA Clearance Of Investigational New Drug Application For CX-904 For Treatment Of Advanced Solid Tumors

CytomX Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTMX), a leader in the field of conditionally activated therapeutics, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the company's Investigational New Drug (IND) application for CX-904, an EGFRxCD3 T-cell-engaging bispecific antibody being co-developed by CytomX and Amgen.



"The impressive innovation of CX-904's design and its advancement into the clinical setting underscores our commitment to destroying cancer differently. The CX-904 IND also marks the sixth therapeutic candidate and the third treatment modality overall to enter the clinic from our versatile and tunable Probody platform, reinforcing our leadership in the field of conditional activation of biologic therapeutics," said Sean McCarthy, D.Phil., president, chief executive officer and chairman of CytomX Therapeutics. "Our masked Probody T-cell engagers are designed to harness the power of this highly potent modality. We are eager to initiate the Phase 1 dose-escalation study for CX-904 as the leading edge of our broad efforts to bring conditionally activated bispecifics to patients with advanced solid tumors."

T-cell-engaging bispecific antibodies have tremendous potential for the treatment of solid tumors by directing T cells against tumor antigens, including the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). However, the extraordinarily high potency of these agents can narrow their therapeutic window significantly when their target is present on normal tissues. CX-904 is a conditionally activated T-cell bispecific antibody designed to bind to both EGFR on cancer cells and to the CD3 receptor on T cells selectively in the tumor microenvironment. In preclinical studies, CytomX's conditionally activated Probody EGFRxCD3 bispecific therapeutics demonstrated potent anti-tumor activity and strong improvement in safety versus EGFRxCD3 bispecifics without Probody masking.1