CDR-Life Announces CDR609 as New T-Cell Engager Clinical Candidate Targeting LGR5, a Highly Cancer-specific Surface Antigen Widely Expressed on Common Solid Tumor

On June 26, 2025 CDR-Life Inc., a biotechnology company developing highly selective T cell engagers (TCEs) to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases, reported CDR609 as its next clinical candidate. CDR609 is a novel TCE targeting LGR5, a surface antigen that presents a compelling opportunity for broad, tumor-specific therapeutic intervention in solid tumors (Press release, CDR-Life, JUN 26, 2025, View Source [SID1234654149]).

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LGR5 is a challenging and largely underexploited target in cancer immunotherapy. Unlike most other highly cancer-specific targets, LGR5 is not HLA-restricted, allowing CDR609 to potentially reach a broad patient population. Its high tumor specificity, a critical requirement for the successful use of TCEs, and broad expression across multiple high-prevalence tumor types, including colorectal, gastric, liver and pancreatic cancers, position CDR609 as a differentiated and scalable therapeutic approach.

"CDR609 embodies the key elements of our T cell engager platform: precision, potency and safety," said Christian Leisner, Ph.D., CEO of CDR-Life. "By targeting LGR5, we’re advancing a first-in-class molecule that could unlock significant value for patients with tumors that are currently underserved by immunotherapy."

CDR609 is built on CDR-Life’s proprietary M-gager platform, which enables the development of TCEs that address highly challenging but clean tumor targets and thus designed to minimize off-tumor effects. The company plans to initiate IND-enabling studies in the second half of 2025. The M-gager format and platform are currently being validated in the clinic in the CDR404 Phase 1 program, which is recruiting patients whose tumors express the intracellular target MAGE-A4.