Aduro Biotech, Inc., a clinical-stage immunotherapy company, presented a summary of a novel antibody and combination strategies designed to stimulate durable anti-tumor responses during the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Symposium on Immuno-Oncology 2015, that took place in Nov. 20–21 in Lausanne, Switzerland.
According to the company’s press announcement, the presentation was part of a keynote lecture given by Andrea van Elsas, PhD, CSO of Aduro Biotech Europe, titled “Immunomodulatory Antibodies Beyond PD-1.” The lecture discussed improvements in the field of immuno-oncology concerning antibody approaches targeting T cells (like CD27 agonists), tumor-immune interfaces (like CD47 – SIRPα axis), dendritic cells and macrophages and bispecific antibodies. The discussion included a reference to encouraging early work with new cyclic dinucleotides (CDNs) agonists.
“Recent advances in immunotherapy are bringing about a new era of cancer medicine and revolutionizing the development of novel treatments across a broad range of cancer types,” said Dr. van Elsas. “Checkpoint inhibitors have clearly demonstrated clinical benefit as single agent therapy in some patient populations, but emerging data suggests combination therapy may be required to extend this benefit to a majority of patients. At Aduro, our focus is on advancing multiple therapeutic approaches that have the potential to yield powerful immunotherapy combinations.”
Dr. van Elsas also presented the three immunotherapy platforms that Aduro uses to disrupt the tumor microenvironment, while strengthening patients’ immune systems to fight several cancer targets:
- LADD (live, attenuated, double-deleted Listeria mononcytogenes) that involves bacteria-based mobilization of the immune system;
- CDNs targeting small molecule activation of the Stimulator of Interferon Genes (STING) receptor leading to T cell priming specific for tumor neoantigens;
- B-select technology targeting first or best-in-class agonist and antagonist monoclonal antibodies (mAbs).
Other topics in the presentation were:
- Preclinical data showing strong anti-tumor activity of ADU-S100, a proprietary molecule based on Aduro’s CDN platform technology;
- ADU-S100’s ability to induce innate immunity using STING, a critical receptor that activates immune cells in the tumor microenvironment;
- The formulation of ADU-S100 with GVAX into the cancer vaccine — “STINGVAX” — that was shown to be active in anti-PD1 resistant tumors;
- CD27 agonistic antibodies;
- Antibodies specifically blocking CD47 – SIRPα interaction can improve tumor killing and rejection while eliciting functional cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL).
Aduro Biotech focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of immunotherapies to transform the treatment of challenging illnesses. Aduro’s technology is used in cancer research, harnessing the body’s natural immune system and holding the potential to expand into autoimmune and infectious diseases.
