ZB131 is a first-in-class humanized monoclonal antibody targeting cancer-specific plectin (CSP), which is expressed on the surface of cancer cells in many solid tumors
New, preclinical research suggests that CSP is a promising target and ZB131 is an ideal candidate for antibody-drug conjugate approaches
Charlottesville, Va., April 17, 2023 – ZielBio, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company discovering new treatments for cancer and other serious diseases, will present new, preclinical data showing that its lead asset, ZB131, directed against cancer-specific plectin (CSP), represents a promising approach for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2023.
The AACR Annual Meeting is taking place April 14-19, 2023 in Orlando and virtually. ZielBio’s Dr. Lindsey Brinton, Principal Scientist and Head of Research, and Dr. Samantha Perez, Senior Scientist, will present the data in a poster session on Wednesday, April 19 from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm in Section 21 of the poster hall.
Major advances in payload and linker technology are increasing the clinical adoption of ADCs, leaving an unmet need for the identification of new targets that differentiate cancer cells from healthy cells across multiple tumor types. ZielBio has validated CSP, a pro-tumorigenic protein expressed on the surface of cancer cells, as a high-value drug target and developed ZB131 as a first-in-class anti-CSP monoclonal antibody. ZB131 is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial (NCT05074472) across multiple solid tumors.
Research presented at AACR will focus on CSP as a target for ADCs, demonstrating its abundance on the surface of cancer cells (and not healthy tissue), its bioavailability in humans, and its application across multiple cancer indications. ZB131 demonstrates favorable pharmacokinetics, is rapidly internalized by CSP-expressing tumor cells in mouse models, and can be conjugated to multiple cytotoxic payloads.
“These findings underscore our enthusiasm for CSP as a therapeutic target and ZB131 as an excellent candidate for conjugation to payloads,” said Alan Bash, CEO of ZielBio. “We are excited to share this data with the AACR community and are committed to exploring new avenues for deploying ZB131 against difficult-to-treat cancers.”
About ZielBio
ZielBio is a clinical stage biotechnology company that identifies novel disease targets and develops therapeutic interventions to improve patient outcomes. Its proprietary drug discovery platform ZielFind combines the power of functional, high throughput screening with large content data analytics to identify high value targets. ZielBio has a promising pipeline of therapies and targets, including novel lead asset ZB131 (proposed international nonproprietary name Ibentatug), a proprietary humanized monoclonal antibody against cancer-specific plectin. The company’s clinical trial of ZB131 is open and enrolling with additional study details available at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05074472).
Media Contact:
Sarah O’Connell
Verge Scientific Communications