On April 18, 2016 Innate Pharma SA (the "Company" – Euronext Paris: FR0010331421 – IPH) reported data on a research program to develop a CD73 checkpoint inhibitor antibody in oncology at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting 2016 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA (Press release, Innate Pharma, APR 18, 2016, View Source [SID:1234511075]). This new anti-CD73 project complements Innate’s first-in-class anti-CD39 program strengthening the Company’s positioning in targeting the tumor microenvironment.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

CD73 and CD39 are two enzymes which play a major role in promoting immunosuppression through the pathway degrading adenosine triphosphate (ATP) into adenosine. CD73 is active on the last step of the degradation pathway, where it is the enzyme that actually degrades AMP* into adenosine.

Poster #2344 presented a panel of newly generated antibodies that block CD73 function. They all bind with high affinity and specificity to the CD73 enzyme, but to distinct epitopes and display different mechanisms of inhibition, including direct blocking of CD73 enzymatic activity or down-modulation of CD73 membrane expression. All antibodies strongly reduce AMP catabolism and efficiently reverse adenosine-mediated T cell suppression in vitro. The antibodies displaying the most interesting features were humanized and further evaluation of their activity is ongoing.

Nicolai Wagtmann, CSO of Innate Pharma, said: "This program adds to our innovative and diversified portfolio of checkpoint inhibitors. We are entering the very exciting and novel area of microenvironment checkpoint inhibition which complements other immuno-oncology approaches. Our anti-CD73 and anti-CD39 antibodies each have potential as single-agent therapeutics and for combination with other checkpoint blockers notably targeting T or NK cells".