AACR 2024 preview – more companies pile into popular mechanisms
Most attention at the upcoming AACR meeting might be on clinical-stage projects, but several preclinical assets could also be worth watching, given their activity against hot targets. A case in point is Nectin-4, where Pfizer/Astellas’s ADC Padcev has set the pace, with plenty of others following. AACR abstracts reveal several preclinical ADCs, as well as a Nectin-4-targeted γδ cell therapy from Century Therapeutics. KRAS inhibition is another hot area, and AACR will see preclinical data on various G12D-selective projects, while multi-KRAS inhibitors are also set to feature, including Boehringer’s BI 3706674 and Quanta's "G12V-preferring" QTX3544. The pan-KRAS field is led by Revolution Medicines, but there is also plenty of early-stage interest; the G12D-selective field is getting increasingly crowded, and recently saw Jazz pick up a preclinical candidate from Redx. And, in an area that has seen a resurgence of late, Zymeworks has just unveiled a trispecific antibody targeting DLL3, CD3 and CD28. DLL3 blockade has come back into vogue after Amgen produced promising data in the phase 2 Dellphi-301 trial with its bispecific T-cell engager tarlatamab at last year’s ESMO meeting; that project has a PDUFA date of 12 June in advanced small-cell lung cancer.
Notable preclinical abstracts at AACR 2024
Project | Company | Mechanism | Abstract | Session type | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ADRX-0706 | Adcentrx Therapeutics | Anti-Nectin-4 ADC | 1891 | Poster | In ph1 in solid tumours |
LY4052031 | Lilly | Anti-Nectin-4 ADC | 1872 | Poster | IND expected 2024 |
IPH45 | Innate Pharma | Anti-Nectin-4 ADC | 6582 | Oral | Ph1 to start 2024 |
CNTY-107 | Century Therapeutics | Nectin-4 targeted Car γδ T-cell therapy | 1916 | Poster | IND expected 2025 |
TSN1611 | Tyligand Bioscience | KRAS G12D inhibitor | 3315 | Poster | Ph1/2 to start H1 2024 |
LY3962673 | Lilly | KRAS G12D inhibitor | 3316 | Poster | Ph1 to start 2024 |
BI 3706674 | Boehringer Ingelheim | Multi-KRAS inhibitor | 3317 | Poster | In ph1 in stomach/oesophageal cancers |
GFH375 (VS-7375) | Verastem/ GenFleet | KRAS G12D (ON/OFF) inhibitor | 3318 | Poster | China ph1 to start H2 2024 |
QTX3544 | Quanta Therapeutics | G12V-preferring multi-KRAS inhibitor | LB163 | Late-breaking poster | – |
Unnamed | Zymeworks | Anti-DLL3/CD3/CD28 trispecific MAvb | 6716 | Poster | – |
Source: AACR 2024. This story has been updated to include QTX3544.
The 2024 AACR meeting takes place in San Diego on 5-10 April.
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