Recap of Antibody Drug Conjugates Seminar
Date: August 29, 2020 @ 1:30 pm – October 29, 2020 @ 5:00 pm
Location: Online Zoom meeting
Antibody Drug Conjugates Seminar
On August 29, 2020, the Chinese American Biopharmaceutical Society (CABS) successfully hosted a webinar on Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADCs).
With the accelerated approval of Trodelvy in 2020, nine antibody drug conjugates now on the market have truly proven their potential. During the webinar, five experts from Seattle Genetics, Sutro Biopharma, Genentech, and Eli Lilly delved into the pioneering development of ADC from its early discovery to manufacturing CMC and clinical study. The speakers also emphasized the recent application of the ADC in fields other than oncology.
The webinar attracted more than 200 attendees from the biotech and pharmaceutical communities.
Dr. Ken Zhang, Co-Chair of Science and Technology Committee of CABS, kicked off the webinar with an introduction of CABS and Science Committee’s previous events.
Dr. Kristin Bedard, Vice President of Immuno-biology of Sutro Biopharma, started with the first talk on “Antibody Drug Conjugates - Using a Novel Technology to Produce First in Class Immune Modulating Cancer Drugs”. Dr. Bedard introduced Sutro’s proprietary technology on ADCs production in a cell free environment for rapid screening of lead candidates. She showed lead ADC molecule STRO-002 with its in vitro and in vivo activity and strong synergism with checkpoint blockades such as PD-L1. “One advantage of STRO-002 is its dual functions; it kills tumor cells through immunogenic cell death and releases tumor antigens that can further stimulate anti-tumor immunity”. The second story Dr. Bedard shared was about ADC development combining of a novel toll-like receptor (TLR) agonist and a traditional cytotoxic antibody drug conjugate warhead. It demonstrated more complete anti-tumor effects in preclinical tumor models and protective T cell mediated immunity. “This novel ADC technology can not only reduce tumor burden through direct killing but can also stimulate a protective and adaptive immune response against the tumor”, Dr. Bedard concluded her talk.
Dr. Chunze Li, Director/Principal Scientist/Group Leader at Genentech, presented the second talk on “Clinical Pharmacology Strategies in Supporting Drug Development and Approval of Antibody Drug Conjugates”. Dr. Li started her talk with an overview of ADC design concept, i.e., to increase the therapeutic window of cytotoxic agents. She highlighted a few major challenges in ADC design. Dr. Li presented an overview of clinical pharmacology strategy to support the development and approval of an ADC. Specifically, she provided a few examples to illustrate the unique clinical pharmacology consideration for ADCs, including bioanalytical strategies, PK and ADME characterizations, exposure-response analysis to inform dose selection and strategy to support dose recommendation in specific population (e.g., patients with renal and hepatic impairment).