Tissue factor tempts Adcendo

Tissue factor, best known for its role in blood clotting, has also yielded an approved cancer therapy in Pfizer and Genmab’s Tivdak – and today Adcendo decided that it wanted in on this target. The private Danish group has licensed the TF-targeting antibody-drug conjugate ADCE-T02 from Multitude Therapeutics outside China; the undisclosed up-front fee is presumably small despite the deal’s $1bn biodollar value. The rest of the TF space looks sparse beyond Tivdak, suggesting a lack of enthusiasm for the target, but Adcendo sees its new asset as differentiated: while Tivdak and the other main clinical-stage candidate, Lepu’s MRG004A, use auristatin payloads, ADCE-T02 employs an in-vogue topoisomerase 1 inhibitor, and its design is said to minimise impact on the coagulation pathway. Tivdak has a warning on its label for haemorrhage. ADCE-T02 will soon be put to the test, with a phase 1 study set to start in Australia later this year, and a US IND planned “in the near future”. Other topoisomerase-based projects aren’t too far behind, though – including one from Exelixis, which earlier this month discontinued its first-generation TF-targeting ADC, XB002, citing undifferentiated early clinical data. XB002, which was licensed from Iconic Therapeutics, employed an auristatin payload.

Tissue factor-targeting ADCs in development

Note: DAR=drug-antibody ratio. Source: OncologyPipeline.