Targeted EVade™ RNases

Antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) can provide a significant increase in the clinical utility of antibodies to cancer specific antigens, including HER2 (breast cancer) and CD30 (lymphomas). For both of these antigens, ADCs have demonstrated benefit for patients for whom the naked antibody was not effective. In these cases, small molecules that have no therapeutic window have been used as the drug. While attempts have been made to use proteins as the drug component of ADCs, the proteins have come from bacteria (e.g. Pseudomonas exotoxin) or plants (e.g. ricin) and cause immunogenicity and/or systemic toxicity at low doses. The EVade^TM RNases provide a human framework with a differentiated safety profile in human clinical trials, which allows them to overcome the main barriers of foreign proteins. While EVade^TM RNases have single agent activity, their therapeutic window is wider than both the small molecules and foreign proteins, which may distinguish the EVade^TM RNase ADCs. Quintessence is working to establish proof of principle for the conjugates to form industry alliances in this area.