SGN-B7H4V, an investigational vedotin ADC directed to the immune checkpoint ligand B7-H4, shows promising activity in preclinical models.

BACKGROUND: SGN-B7H4V is a novel investigational vedotin antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) comprising a B7-H4-directed human monoclonal antibody conjugated to the cytotoxic payload monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE) via a protease-cleavable maleimidocaproyl valine citrulline (mc-vc) linker. This vedotin linker-payload system has been clinically validated in multiple Food and Drug Administration approved agents including brentuximab vedotin, enfortumab vedotin, and tisotumab vedotin. B7-H4 is an immune checkpoint ligand with elevated expression on a variety of solid tumors, including breast, ovarian, and endometrial tumors, and limited normal tissue expression. SGN-B7H4V is designed to induce direct cytotoxicity against target cells by binding to B7-H4 on the surface of target cells and releasing the cytotoxic payload MMAE upon internalization of the B7-H4/ADC complex. METHODS: B7-H4 expression was characterized by immunohistochemistry across multiple solid tumor types. The ability of SGN-B7H4V to kill B7-H4-expressing tumor cells in vitro and in vivo in a variety of xenograft tumor models was also evaluated. Finally, the antitumor activity of SGN-B7H4V as monotherapy and in combination with an anti-programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) agent was evaluated using an immunocompetent murine B7-H4-expressing Renca tumor model. RESULTS: Immunohistochemistry confirmed B7-H4 expression across multiple solid tumors, with the highest prevalence in breast, endometrial, and ovarian tumors. In vitro, SGN-B7H4V killed B7-H4-expressing tumor cells by MMAE-mediated direct cytotoxicity and antibody-mediated effector functions including antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis. In vivo, SGN-B7H4V demonstrated strong antitumor activity in multiple xenograft models of breast and ovarian cancer, including xenograft tumors with heterogeneous B7-H4 expression, consistent with the ability of vedotin ADCs to elicit a bystander effect. In an immunocompetent murine B7-H4-expressing tumor model, SGN-B7H4V drove robust antitumor activity as a monotherapy that was enhanced when combined with an anti-PD-1 agent. CONCLUSION: The immune checkpoint ligand B7-H4 is a promising molecular target expressed by multiple solid tumors. SGN-B7H4V demonstrates robust antitumor activity in preclinical models through multiple potential mechanisms. Altogether, these preclinical data support the evaluation of SGN-B7H4V as a monotherapy in the ongoing phase 1 study of SGN-B7H4V in advanced solid tumors (NCT05194072) and potential future clinical combinations with immunotherapies.

SGN-CD228A Is an Investigational CD228-Directed Antibody-Drug Conjugate with Potent Antitumor Activity across a Wide Spectrum of Preclinical Solid Tumor Models.

SGN-CD228A is an investigational antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) directed to melanotransferrin (CD228, MELTF, MFI2, p97), a cell-surface protein first identified in melanoma. SGN-CD228A consists of a humanized antibody, hL49, with high specificity and affinity for CD228 that is stably conjugated to 8 molecules of the clinically validated microtubule-disrupting agent monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE) via a novel glucuronide linker. We performed comprehensive IHC studies, which corroborated published RNA sequencing data and confirmed low CD228 expression in normal tissues and high expression in several cancers, including melanoma, squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), colorectal cancer, and pancreatic cancer. SGN-CD228A was efficiently internalized in various tumor cell types, and its cytotoxic activity was dependent on CD228 expression and internalization and intrinsic sensitivity to the MMAE payload. Compared with the valine-citrulline dipeptide linker, the novel glucuronide linker increased the cellular retention of MMAE in vitro and conferred improved antitumor activity against melanoma cell lines in vitro and in vivo. In addition, SGN-CD228A was active across melanoma, TNBC, and NSCLC cell line- and patient-derived xenograft models with heterogeneous antigen expression. In vivo, CD228 expression was important for response to SGN-CD228A but was not well correlated across all tumor types, suggesting that other factors associated with ADC activity are important. Overall, SGN-CD228A is a CD228-directed, investigational ADC that employs innovative technology and has compelling preclinical antitumor activity. SGN-CD228A is investigated in a Phase I clinical trial (NCT04042480) in patients with advanced solid tumors.

Homogeneous BTK Occupancy Assay for Pharmacodynamic Assessment of Tirabrutinib (GS-4059/ONO-4059) Target Engagement.

Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) is a clinically validated target for B-cell leukemias and lymphomas with FDA-approved small-molecule inhibitors ibrutinib and acalabrutinib. Tirabrutinib (GS-4059/ONO-4059, Gilead Sciences, Inc., Foster City, CA) is a second-generation, potent, selective, irreversible BTK inhibitor in clinical development for lymphoid malignancies, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). An accurate pharmacodynamic assay to assess tirabrutinib target coverage in phase 1/2 clinical studies will inform dose and schedule selection for advanced clinical evaluation. We developed a novel duplex homogeneous BTK occupancy assay based on time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer (TR-FRET) to measure free and total BTK levels in a multiplexed format. The dual-wavelength emission property of terbium-conjugated anti-BTK antibody served as the energy donor for two fluorescent energy acceptors with distinct excitation and emission spectra. The assay was characterized and qualified using full-length purified recombinant human BTK protein and peripheral blood mononuclear cells derived from healthy volunteers and patients with CLL. We demonstrated assay utility using cells derived from lymph node and bone marrow samples from patients with CLL and DLBCL. Our TR-FRET-based BTK occupancy assay provides accurate, quantitative assessment of BTK occupancy in the clinical trial program for tirabrutinib and is in use in ongoing clinical studies.

Cellular responses to individual amino-acid depletion in antibody-expressing and parental CHO cell lines.

Depletion of two nonessential amino acids, asparagine (Asn) and glutamine (Gln), occurred during a fed-batch production process with a CHO cell line expressing a recombinant antibody. This depletion coincided with growth suppression and the onset of the stationary phase. Experimental withdrawal of Asn led to cell cycle arrest of cell line A in G0/G1 phase. On a mechanistic level, withdrawal of either Asn or Gln stimulated the amino-acid response (AAR) pathway, indicating that depletion of nonessential amino acids can induce AAR in this cell line. Compared to withdrawal of an essential amino acid, leucine (Leu), withdrawal of either Asn or Gln induced fewer changes in downstream effectors of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling involved in regulation of global protein synthesis. Global transcriptional analysis followed by pathway analysis revealed that the cultures experienced a down-regulation of cell-cycle progression, DNA replication and nucleotide biosynthesis in an E2F-dependent manner, as well as a down-regulation of lipid metabolism in a SREBP1/2-dependent manner as a result of individual amino-acid withdrawal. Timing and magnitude of observed phenotypic and transcriptional responses to amino-acid withdrawal differed between essential (Leu) and nonessential (Asn and Gln) amino acids examined. Observed responses were similar in parental (CS9 and CHOK-1) and two other antibody-producing CHO cell lines, but the magnitude of the transcriptional response was both cell-line and amino-acid dependent. Overall, these results suggest that depletion of nonessential amino acids in cell culture plays a role in the onset of the stationary phase of production process and offer mechanistic insights into the observed growth attenuation phenotype.

Psychromonas boydii sp. nov., a gas-vacuolate, psychrophilic bacterium isolated from an Arctic sea-ice core.

A gas-vacuolate bacterium, strain 174(T), was isolated from a sea-ice core collected from Point Barrow, Alaska, USA. Comparative analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that this bacterium was most closely related to Psychromonas ingrahamii 37(T), with a similarity of >99 %. However, strain 174(T) could be clearly distinguished from closely related species by DNA-DNA hybridization; relatedness values determined by two different methods between strain 174(T) and P. ingrahamii 37(T) were 58.4 and 55.7 % and those between strain 174(T) and Psychromonas antarctica DSM 10704(T) were 46.1 and 33.1 %, which are well below the 70 % level used to define a distinct species. Phenotypic analysis, including cell size (strain 174(T) is the largest member of the genus Psychromonas, with rod-shaped cells, 8-18 microm long), further differentiated strain 174(T) from other members of the genus Psychromonas. Strain 174(T) could be distinguished from its closest relative, P. ingrahamii, by its utilization of D-mannose and D-xylose as sole carbon sources, its ability to ferment myo-inositol and its inability to use fumarate and glycerol as sole carbon sources. In addition, strain 174(T) contained gas vacuoles of two distinct morphologies and grew at temperatures ranging from below 0 to 10 degrees C and its optimal NaCl concentration for growth was 3.5 %. The DNA G+C content was 40 mol%. Whole-cell fatty acid analysis showed that 16 : 1omega7c and 16 : 0 comprised 44.9 and 26.4 % of the total fatty acid content, respectively. The name Psychromonas boydii sp. nov. is proposed for this novel species, with strain 174(T) (=DSM 17665(T) =CCM 7498(T)) as the type strain.

Bridging the Divide between Manual Gating and Bioinformatics with the Bioconductor Package flowFlowJo.

In flow cytometry, different cell types are usually selected or "gated" by a series of 1- or 2-dimensional geometric subsets of the measurements made on each cell. This is easily accomplished in commercial flow cytometry packages but it is difficult to work computationally with the results of this process. The ability to retrieve the results and work with both them and the raw data is critical; our experience points to the importance of bioinformatics tools that will allow us to examine gating robustness, combine manual and automated gating, and perform exploratory data analysis. To provide this capability, we have developed a Bioconductor package called flowFlowJo that can import gates defined by the commercial package FlowJo and work with them in a manner consistent with the other flow packages in Bioconductor. We present this package and illustrate some of the ways in which it can be used.

Psychromonas ingrahamii sp. nov., a novel gas vacuolate, psychrophilic bacterium isolated from Arctic polar sea ice.

A gas vacuolate bacterium, designated strain 37T, was isolated from a sea ice core collected from Point Barrow, Alaska, USA. Cells of strain 37T were large (6-14 microm in length), rod-shaped, contained gas vacuoles of two distinct morphologies, and grew well at NaCl concentrations of 1-10 % and at temperatures of -12 to 10 degrees C. The DNA G+C content was 40 mol%. Whole-cell fatty acid analysis showed that 16 : 1omega7c comprised 67 % of the total fatty acid content. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that this bacterium was closely related to members of the genus Psychromonas, with highest sequence similarity (96.8 %) to Psychromonas antarctica. Phenotypic analysis differentiated strain 37T from P. antarctica on the basis of several characteristics, including cell morphology, growth temperature range and the ability to hydrolyse polymers. DNA-DNA hybridization experiments revealed a level of relatedness of 37 % between strain 37T and P. antarctica, providing further support that it represents a distinct species. The name Psychromonas ingrahamii sp. nov. is proposed for this novel species. The type strain is 37T (=CCUG 51855T=CIP 108865T).