Context Therapeutics purchases FDA approved antibody

Philadelphia-based Context Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company advancing medicines for solid tumors, recently signed an asset purchase agreement with Link Immunotherapeutics to purchase CT-95, a mesothelin (MSLN) x CD3 T cell engaging (TCE) bispecific antibody that has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration investigational new drug clearance.

Many cancers overexpress MSLN, a membrane protein, with limited expression in normal tissues. The presence of a shed MSLN sink found in both blood and the tumor microenvironment makes developing MSLN-targeted therapies a challenge.

CT-95 works by employing an IgG-scFv architecture with an effector-silenced IgG1 backbone. It minimizes the impact of the shed sink by having a relatively low affinity but high avidity for membrane-bound MSLN.

“Context identified MSLN as a target of interest due to its high prevalence in underserved solid cancers, including ovarian, lung, and pancreatic,” Martin Lehr, Context CEO, said. “Based on the compelling preclinical data generated to date, we believe that CT-95 has the potential to be both a first-in-class and best-in-class MSLN-targeting TCE.”

CT-95 is being developed as a therapy for advanced cancers associated with MSLN expression, and is on track for phase 1 initiation during the first quarter of next year.

Context Therapeutics’ portfolio includes CTIM-76, a selective Claudin 6 x CD3 bispecific antibody.

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