ImmunoGen Begins ADC Trial

ImmunoGen has begun a Phase I trial of its EGFR-targeting antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), IMGN289. IMGN289 will be evaluated in a multi-center trial designed to assess the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and anticancer activity of the compound, administered weekly, in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck cancer (SCCHN), or other EGFR-positive solid tumors.

Once its maximum tolerated dose is defined in the dose-finding part of the trial, the activity of IMGN289 will be evaluated in disease-specific patient cohorts. The ones planned currently include SCCHN, squamous cell NSCLC, and NSCLC resistant to EGFR inhibitors.

IMGN289 is designed to bind to and kill cancer cells that highly express EGFR, also known as HER1. It contains an EGFR-targeting antibody developed by ImmunoGen with the company’s potent cell-killing agent, DM1, attached using its thioether linker. This design is also used in the approved HER2-targeting product, Kadcyla, marketed by Roche.