Our Pipeline
By leveraging its proprietary DiversImmune® and MultiMabTM antibody discovery and engineering platforms, Abpro is developing a pipeline of next-generation antibodies, both independently and through collaborations with global pharmaceutical and research institutions.
ABP-102: Bispecific antibody for breast cancer, gastric cancer
Our lead product candidate, ABP-102, is a next generation immuno-oncology TetraBi antibody targeting HER2 and CD3 being developed for the treatment of HER2+ solid tumors, including breast and gastric cancers.
ABP-102 is being developed and commercialized through a worldwide strategic partnership with Celltrion Inc. (“Celltrion”) (KRX:068270).
ABP-102 features bivalent HER2 binding sites and is engineered through affinity tuning to selectively target tumor cells expressing high and intermediate levels of HER2, with reduced activity on cells expressinglow-to-negative levels of HER2. ABP-102 also features an affinity-tuned CD3 binding domain to provide enhanced potential for safety. ABP-102 harnesses the power of the immune system by redirecting and activating cytotoxic T cells to attack tumor tissue, with the goal of triggering a potent and durable anti-tumor immune response. ABP-102 may provide an improved therapeutic window to attack tumor cells while reducing systemic toxicity by promoting “on-target, on-tumor” effects, with reduced potential for “on-target, off-tumor” toxicity toward endogenous tissues.
In preclinical in vitro studies, ABP-102 has demonstrated selectivity in both cytokine secretion and cytotoxicity with HER2-high and intermediate breast, ovarian, and gastric cancer cell lines, including those that are resistant to Herceptin (trastuzumab), with reduced activity on HER2-low and negligible activity on HER2-negative cell lines. We plan to initiate a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of ABP-102 with our partner Celltrion in the second half of 2025, focusing on HER2+ breast and gastric cancers.
We believe ABP-102 is an improvement over currently approved HER2-targeting agents such as Herceptin, Perjeta (pertuzumab), and Kadcyla (T-DM1), as well as other HER2-targeting agents currently in development, because it relies on the redirection of cytotoxic T cells to selectively target and eliminate tumor cells, while sparing endogenous HER2-expressing cells. Current HER2-directed therapies, which are designed either to block HER2 function or deliver toxic payloads to the tumor, are only effective in a subset of HER2+ patients, cause undesirable side effects, and are limited by the onset of drug resistance.
ABP-102 has the potential to provide longer lasting or even curative results in a broader set of patients than are currently addressed by HER2-directed therapies.
We believe the TetraBi antibody format of ABP-102 provides a potentially transformative approach to immuno- oncology. The TetraBi antibody format features two affinity-tuned binding sites, and thus bivalent binding for the tumor antigen, creating a stronger connection to the tumor cell compared to monovalent binding. In addition, the placement of the CD3 binding domain in the middle, or hinge region, of the TetraBi antibody format results in a therapeutic candidate that, in preclinical studies, selectively activates T cells only in the presence of tumor cells. We have designed ABP-102 as a highly potent therapeutic agent with the goal of a favorable safety profile and potential for an enhanced therapeutic window.
We are leveraging the TetraBi antibody format of ABP-102 to pursue a broad pipeline of immuno-oncology agents that target highly expressed antigens on a diverse range of tumor types, as depicted in the following chart. Our platform of T cell engagers has the potential to translate into an industry-leading pipeline of therapeutic agents with the goal of improving the treatment of patients.
Under the Collaboration Agreement that we entered into with Celltrion in September 2022. We received an upfront payment and an equity investment, each in the single digit millions of dollars, in connection with that agreement and we are eligible for net sales milestone payments of up to $1.75 billion and development milestone payments of up to $8.0 million.
Celltrion Inc. (“Celltrion”) (KRX:068270), a leading Korean biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Incheon, South Korea.
ABP 201: Bispecific antibody for Wet AMD/Diabetic Macular Edema
Our lead product candidate , ABP-201 is designed to designed to simultaneously inhibit VEGF and ANG-2 for the potential treatment of vascular diseases of the eye, including diabetic macular edema, or DME, and wet age-related macular degeneration, or Wet AMD. In both DME and Wet AMD, blood vessels form abnormally and leak fluid, resulting in vision loss. Whereas VEGF drives new blood vessel formation, ANG-2 acts to destabilize blood vessels and contributes to vessel leakage. The current standard of care for DME and Wet AMD includes intravitreal injections of VEGF-targeted agents, including Eylea (aflibercept), Lucentis (ranibizumab), and Avastin (bevacizumab, used off-label). However, these drugs require eye injections every one to two months and are only effective in a subset of patients, many of whom eventually develop resistance. Because ANG-2 appears to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of these diseases, we believe ABP-201 could potentially provide increased efficacy over current agents. In addition, because ABP-201 has a high binding capacity, with a total of four binding sites per molecule, we believe ABP-201 could be administered less frequently than current agents.
We expect to initiate clinical trials for ABP-201 in the second half of 2025.
ABP-201 is held through our majority-owned subsidiary AbMed Corporation, or AbMed. AstraZeneca (formerly MedImmune) owns a minority stake in AbMed and, with respect to Asia, the Middle East and certain other countries, ABP-201 is being developed and commercialized through a territorial partnership with Abpro Bio, with our company retaining rights in the rest of the world.
ABP 150: Bispecific antibody for gastric cancer
ABP-150 is a TetraBi antibody targeting claudin 18.2 and CD3 for the potential treatment of gastric cancers. Like our other T cell engagers, ABP-150 is designed to bind bivalently to claudin 18.2 on gastric cancer cells and to CD3 on cytotoxic T cells, leading to T cell-mediated killing of gastric tumor cells. Claudin 18.2 is exclusively expressed on gastric tissue, a tissue with a high physiological turnover rate, making it tolerant of even moderate acute toxicity without unacceptable or chronic toxic effects.
Preclinically, ABP-150 shows potent killing in in vitro T cell-mediated killing assays. In both mouse syngeneic tumor models using human CD3-transgenic mice and human tumor xenograft models using human peripheral blood mononuclear cells as a source of T cells, ABP-150 shows potent efficacy. As ABP-150 cross-reacts with mouse claudin 18.2, but not mouse CD3, we demonstrated in a human CD3-transgenic mouse toxicity model that ABP-150 is well tolerated, with little impact on body weight, appetite (food consumption) or body temperature. IL-6, a key cytokine for the initiation of cytokine release syndrome, saw little increase over vehicle (placebo) control. We expect to initiate clinical trials for ABP-150 in the first half of 2027.
ABP-150 is being developed under a collaboration agreement with Nanjing Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd (“NJCTTQ”), pursuant to which NJCTTQ has exclusive commercialization rights in China and Thailand and we retain commercialization rights in the rest of the world.
ABP 110: Bispecific antibody for liver cancer
ABP-110 is a TetraBi antibody targeting GPC3 and CD3 for the potential treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma, or HCC, the major form of liver cancer. ABP-110 is designed to bind bivalently to GPC3 on HCC cells and CD3 on cytotoxic T cells, bringing these two cell types into close proximity and triggering sustained T-cell activation and tumor cell killing. GPC3 is an onco-fetal antigen that is only expressed during fetal development and on HCC cells, making it an ideal tumor antigen target. GPC3 expression is also prognostic of poor overall survival in HCC, suggesting that ABP-110 may be most effective in the patients at highest risk and most in need of novel therapeutic interventions. Targeting this patient population may provide for a relatively rapid path to approval given the unmet medical need in HCC. We expect to initiate clinical trials for ABP-110 in the second half of 2026.
We hold world-wide exclusive rights to ABP-110 under a patent license granted by the National Cancer Institute, or NCI, a division of the NIH.