site-specific conjugation, scalable manufacturing process, and suitability for various antibodies, linkers, or payload, establish a straightforward and efficient process in the development of ADC
Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) has emerged as a prominent player in the realm of anti-cancer drugs, with global pharmaceutical companies heavily investing in research and development of ADC or through acquisitions/ licensing to fortify their ADC pipelines. OBI Pharma not only focuses on ADC asset development but also establishes an advanced ADC technology platform. This platform enables rapid generation and manufacturing of ADCs via site-specific conjugation and proprietary scalable processes, streamlining ADC development with enhanced efficiency.
The advantage of ADC lies in its capability of delivering highly potent small molecule drugs directly to cancer cells while minimizing damage to normal tissues. This precise and targeted approach, often likened to be ‘magic bullets’ or ‘guided missiles,’ opens new choices for cancer therapy, particularly in hard-to-treat cases. As a testament to its potential, more than 150 international licensing cases have been successfully completed in the past five years.
Dr. Heidi Wang, CEO of OBI Pharma, emphasizes that over the past two decades, numerous ADCs have been introduced to the market. The complexity of traditional conjugation technology and the instability of linkers have posed major challenges to the development of effective ADCs for a wide range of treatments.
In response to this challenge, the OBI R&D team has developed two distinct ADC technology platforms including a cysteine-based conjugation platform and a glycan-modified ADC platform (GlycOBI™). Both platforms employ a “Plug & Play” strategy, ensuring compatibility with diverse antibodies, linkers, and payloads, thereby enabling the design of various drug-to-antibody ratios. Notably, the GlycOBI™ platform addresses the limitations of traditional ADCs, resulting in enhanced efficacy and stability.
Dr. David Huang, Director of R&D Medicinal Chemistry at OBI, indicates that regardless of the antibody chosen for ADC development, the use of OBI’s proprietary GlycOBI™ platform allows for the rapid generation of ADCs with site-specific conjugation. Furthermore, this process can be efficiently scaled up during manufacturing, which streamlines and facilitates ADC development.
Dr. Ming-Tain Lai, Chief Scientific Officer of OBI Pharma, explains that this platform is established based on OBI’s proprietary enzyme technology (EndoSymeOBI™). The antibody glycosylation site can be modified by this enzyme, followed by precise linking to small molecule drugs through hydrophilic linker. Throughout the conjugation process, the antibody structure is preserved, ensuring that the ADC maintains similar physiological characteristics to the original antibody.
In addition, OBI’s linker technology enhances the conjugation efficiency of the linker, mitigates the aggregation of antibodies after coupling, and significantly extends the half-life of ADC products.
The two distinct platforms created by OBI have the potential to be the first-in-class and best-in-class ADCs. Heidi Wang emphasizes that these two versatile platforms can be applied to any antibody, linker, or payload and the “plug-and-play” strategy developed by OBI can assist and accelerate the ADC development process. We are open for potential partners and looking forward to developing more effective ADCs and offering better treatment options for patients. OBI will also actively seek collaboration opportunities with innovative companies dedicated to the development of ADC product lines.
OBI’s current pipeline includes ADCs targeting various biomarkers, such as OBI-992 for TROP2, OBI-902 and OBI-904 for Nectin4, and OBI-905 for HER2.
Related information:
1.Technology platform
2.2023 Investors’ Meeting Presentation