CancerVax antibody inhibits tumour growth in studies
Cell Matrix, a wholly owned subsidiary of US biotech company CancerVax, has presented preclinical data on a new approach in anti-angiogenesis therapy that selectively targets sites of tumour neovascularisation.
Cell Matrix, a wholly owned subsidiary of US biotech company CancerVax, has presented preclinical data on a new approach in anti-angiogenesis therapy that selectively targets sites of tumour neovascularisation.
The company also anticipates that it will submit an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for the use of D93, its lead humanised monoclonal antibody in this programme, for the treatment of solid tumours, in the first quarter of 2006.
'These promising results from our preclinical investigations of denatured collagen antibodies support our decision to advance the D93 humanised monoclonal antibody for IND submission and clinical development,' said David Hale, president and ceo of CancerVax. 'As has been the case with other anti-angiogenesis approaches, we believe that D93 may have potential applicability across multiple solid tumours and the potential to be used in combination with other therapies.'
In a poster entitled: 'A New Approach to Anti-Angiogenesis Treatment: Anti-Denatured Collagen Antibodies Target Tumour Blood Vessels, and Inhibit Angiogenesis and Tumour Growth in Preclinical Models,' Dr Flavia Pernasetti, et al, demonstrated that CancerVax's humanised anti-denatured collagen antibodies significantly inhibited tumour cell growth in a dose dependent manner in several in vivo tumour models compared with controls. In addition, in an orthotopic human breast cancer model in mice, the combination of D93 monoclonal antibody therapy with Taxol resulted in a greater inhibition of tumour growth than either agent alone. These results suggest that the Company's anti-denatured collagen antibodies may have potential for use in the treatment of a variety of solid tumours and have the potential to be combined with other therapies.
The ability to distinguish tumour cells from normal cells is a key advantage of monoclonal antibody therapies. In a second poster entitled: 'Specificity of a New Approach in Anti-Angiogenesis Therapy: Anti-Denatured Collagen Antibodies Selectively Target Tumour Neovascularization,' Dr Pernasetti, et al, showed that humanised, anti-denatured-collagen monoclonal antibodies specifically bind around blood vessels in human patient tumour sections and that these antibodies do not bind to corresponding normal sections from the same tissues and patients. Furthermore, the antibodies were also shown to specifically bind denatured collagen, but not native collagen or other proteins found in the extracellular matrix.
About Anti-denatured collagen antibodies
The extracellular matrix is a molecular network that provides mechanical support to cells and tissues and contains biochemical information important to cellular processes such as cell proliferation, adhesion and migration. Collagen is one of the most abundant components of the extracellular matrix. Angiogenesis, the development of new blood vessels, is a requirement for a tumour to grow beyond 1-2mm in size and to facilitate metastases. Proteolytic degradation or denaturation of collagen during angiogenesis changes the structure of collagen and reveals hidden binding sites. Humanized denatured monoclonal collagen antibodies, by specifically binding to sites on collagen that are normally hidden but become exposed during angiogenesis, appear to inhibit angiogenesis and tumour growth.