Numab Therapeutics AG announced today the first patient has been dosed in its proprietary ND021 program, a next-generation tri-specific immuno-oncology approach targeting PD-L1, 4-1BB and Serum Albumin. The study will initially enroll up to 102 cancer patients at four major clinical sites across the United States and Taiwan and will expand to additional centers as the study progresses. In its first part, this international, multi-center Phase 1/2 clinical study will investigate the safety and tolerability of ascending doses of NM21-1480, the company’s clinical lead molecule in the ND021 program, in patients with various forms of solid tumors and establish a recommended dose for continued clinical development. The trial will subsequently explore the anti-tumor activity of the compound in patients suffering from selected tumor types.  

Numab Therapeutics and Boehringer Ingelheim today announced that they have entered into a research collaboration and worldwide licensing agreement. It will start with two projects aiming at novel therapies for difficult-to-treat lung and gastrointestinal (GI) cancers and patients with geographic atrophy (GA), a progressive, irreversible retinal disease that occurs in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) for which there is no current treatment. The collaboration brings together Boehringer Ingelheim’s leading expertise in the research and development of life-changing breakthrough therapies with Numab’s multi-specific antibody platform.   Lung and GI cancers and retinal diseases are key focus areas of Boehringer Ingelheim’s research and development program. In oncology the company has built a broad and diverse pipeline, combining cancer immunology and cancer cell-directed approaches. The novel T-cell engager to be developed with Numab adds to Boehringer Ingelheim’s growing cancer immunology portfolio and supports the strategy to take cancer on by targeting ‘cold’ tumors with synergistic combination approaches. In retinal diseases, Boehringer Ingelheim is pursuing a holistic approach leveraging existing expertise in oncology, inflammation, neurodegeneration, fibrosis and cardiometabolic diseases. The new GA program with Numab further broadens the company’s comprehensive portfolio of next-generation retinal therapy approaches in various stages of development up to Phase 2 in macular degeneration and diabetic retinal diseases.

Numab announced today an expansion of its relationship with Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. by executing another research and option agreement to discover and develop a multi-specific antibody drug candidate for the treatment of various cancers. Similar to their earlier collaboration initiated in March 2017, under this new agreement, Ono has obtained an option to acquire from Numab exclusive rights to develop and commercialize an immuno-oncology drug candidate that will leverage Numab’s platform technology in order to actualize one of Ono’s novel therapeutic approaches. In exchange, Ono will pay to Numab up to CHF 260 million in upfront and milestone payments plus tiered single to double-digit royalties on sales.