CX-2043, an EpCAM-targeting probody drug conjugate, demonstrates anti-tumor activity with a favorable safety profile in preclinical models

Background: Ideal targets for antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) are efficiently internalized and are highly and homogeneously expressed on tumor cells in large proportion of patients across wide variety of tumor types. EpCAM represents an example of a such a target that is highly expressed in the majority of epithelial cancers. However, past efforts to target EpCAM with antibody-based therapeutics have failed in large part due to toxicity in normal tissues with high expression (e.g. gastro-intestinal tract and pancreas).