OBJECTIVES
The aim of the PB004 project is to develop an anti-cancer therapeutic based on an anti-ROR1 antibody, with significantly improved therapeutic properties compared to Zilovertamb, an anti-ROR1 antibody currently in III phase of clinical development.
ROR1 is a cell surface molecule expressed in many types of cancer, involved in cancer cell survival, proliferation and migration, but absent in most normal healthy tissue, making it an excellent therapeutic target. PB004 has developed an anti-ROR1 antibody that binds to a specific epitope on the ROR1 molecule, and that has increased binding affinity to CD16 receptor expressed on Natural Killer (NK) cells. It induces cancer cell death by activating NK cells and leading to so called Antibody-Dependent Cell Cytotoxicity (ADCC). The developed antibody has great potential for the treatment of patients with ROR1-expressing cancers, especially lymphomas and leukaemias, such as mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and chronic lymphocyte leukemia (CLL).
Pure Biologics plans to bring this drug candidate to the first phases of clinical trials, and then commercialize the project by making it available for licensing.
PROJECT PROGRESS
In the third quarter of 2023, the PB004 project focused on CMC and preclinical development of drug candidate PBA-0405 for Phase 0 clinical development in solid tumor cancer patients, and Phase 1 development in chronic B cell malignancies.
PROJECT DATA SHEET
Title: Development of a bispecific antibody fragment for simultaneous cancer control and immune cell recruitment
Program: Smart Growth Operational Programme 2014-2020
Value: PLN 40 417 125,00
Contribution of European Funds: PLN 29 869 080,00
Start: 1st July 2019
End: 31st December 2023
