- STCube presented preclinical data of ‘hSTC810’, a First-In-Class antibody product targeting ‘BTN1A1’, at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)

The company’s novel drug targeting ‘BTN1A1’ was successfully presented at the AACR poster session.

‘BTN1A1’ is an immune checkpoint protein that suppresses the proliferation of CD8+ T cells, which normally acts to inhibit the growth of tumor cells. The protein is highly expressed in solid tumors that poorly respond to immunotherapies targeting PD-1/PD-L1.

Using a self-developed IHC antibody, STCube showed that ‘BTN1A1’ is highly expressed in tumor cells of the squamous cell carcinoma (56.3%), head and neck (84.5%), bladder cancer (75%), and breast cancer (63.2%). In particular, the protein shows a high expression rate of 56.1% in ovarian cancer in which PD-L1 is known to rarely express.

In addition, it was confirmed through OPAL staining that the expressions of ‘BTN1A1’ and PD-L1 are mutually exclusive. This implies that ‘BTN1A1’ is a novel immune checkpoint protein distinct from PD-1/PD-L1.

The company plans to initiate global clinical trials upon obtaining IND approval from US food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the second half of this year.  Various development options, including co-development with and/or licensing out to multinational pharmaceutical companies, are being explored at the current time.

STCube’s presentation in the AACR 2021 can be viewed by downloading the attached file.