I-Mab, TRACON Pharmaceuticals begins human trial of CD73 antibody TJD5

The study will evaluate the tolerability and safety of TJD5 and determine recommended doses for future clinical studies.

I-Mab Biopharma (I-Mab), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical firm focused on the discovery and development of biologics in immuno-oncology, has announced that cancer drug maker TRACON Pharmaceuticals has dosed its first patient in a U.S. Phase 1 first-in-human clinical trial of CD73 antibody TJD5, a proprietary of I-Mab, in patients with advanced solid tumors.

According to reports, the company will dose TJD5 in the 1st Phase of its trials, both as a single agent and in combination with TECENTRIQ®, a PD-L1 antibody retailed by Roche. For the record, I-Mab and Roche entered into a research collaboration on April 2019, where Roche agreed to supply TECENTRIQ® to I-Mab for testing in combination with TJD5 in a clinical study.

Speaking on the announcement, Joan Shen, M.D., Ph.D., Head of R&D, I-Mab Biopharma, said that TJD5 is the third internally discovered drug developed by the company to enter clinical studies in the U.S. She said that the ‘Fast-to-PoC Global Approach’ plays an essential role for advancing the company’s proprietary drug candidates towards acceptance in the U.S, which further deepens their partnership with TRACON.

Shen added that the treatment resistance to PD-L1/ PD-1 inhibitors are one of the key challenges across cancer types and the company hopes the combination of TECENTRIQ® and TJD5 will offer a new treatment option to counter the unmet medical needs.

According to Charles Theuer, M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO, TRACON Pharmaceutical, signing this partnership contract with I-Mab is an essential milestone as both the parties have expanded their immune-oncology pipeline and validated TRACON’s product manufacturing capabilities designed to lower the time and cost of clinical development for its partners.

He said that their firm will continue to work with I-Mab to optimize the clinical development of TJD5, an antibody with best-in-class, global potential.

Source Credit: http://www.i-mabbiopharma.com/en/article-321.aspx