GPC Biotech has produced enough quantities of its antibody against major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II, 1D09C3, to take the drug into clinical trials.
1D09C3 is a candidate treatment for a range of cancers, including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and multiple myeloma.
The company said it has also completed a series of in vivo experiments using mouse xenografts which showed that the antibody achieved a 100 per cent response rate in NHL and myeloma, as well as Hodgkin's lymphoma and hairy cell leukaemia, with all the animals exhibiting a delay in time to disease progression. Some of the animals were effectively cured of their disease (i.e. they were histologically free from disease for up to 90 days after treatment).
The antibody works by binding to MHC class II receptors, selectively killing activated, proliferating MHC class II positive tumour cells, including B-cell and T-cell lymphomas.Last year, an article in Nature Medicine (Vol. 8, No. 8, 2002) revealed that 1D09C3 works by inducing MHC class II-positive cells to undergo programmed cell death or apoptosis.
Meanwhile, GPC has reported that revenues increased 11 per cent in the first half of this year, despite the weak US dollar, to € 11.3 million. R&D expenses decreased 8 per cent to € 18.2 million, and pretax losses were trimmed to €12.7 million from €15.1 million.