Vectorisation Of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Antibodies

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Vectorisation Of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Antibodies

June 20, 2016 by David Orchard-Webb, PhD

Vectorisation Of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Antibodies

Reporter: David Orchard-Webb, PhD

The FDA approved ipilimumab (anti-CTLA-4) and nivolumab (anti-PD-1) combination in October 2015 for the treatment of advanced melanoma. The antibodies have recently been approved in the UK for the same indication. Over half of patients respond to the combination [1]. These drugs belong to the class of monoclonal antibodies known as immune checkpoint inhibitors. The binding of anti-CTLA-4 antibodies to activated T cells prevents the surface CTLA-4 receptor from binding CD80 and/or CD86 on antigen presenting cells (APCs). Normally CTLA-4 binding to APCs deactivates the T-cell. Antibodies against programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) work by a similar mechanism to CTLA-4. These drugs are delivered by repeated intravenous injections (iv) [2].

Oncolytic viruses are an emerging class of immunotherapeutics that actively stimulate the immune system by releasing tumour antigens via lysis and by virtue of anti-viral immunity. The first FDA approved oncolytic virus (Imlygic), developed by Amgen/ BioVex, was given the green light in October 2015 for advanced melanoma patients delivered via direct tumour injection. The mechanism of action of oncolytic viruses is highly complementary with checkpoint inhibitor antibodies and multiple trials combining these two classes of agent are under way.

At the recent American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, the oldest biotechnology company in France – Transgene, presented preclinical data concerning oncolytic vaccinia viruses that express whole antibody (mAb), Fragment antigen-binding (Fab) or single-chain variable fragment (scFv) against mouse PD-1 [3]. These combinations proved superior over virus alone in mouse xenografts of melanoma and fibrosarcoma cell lines. Transgene claim that “these results pave the way for next generation of oncolytic vaccinia armed with immunomodulatory therapeutic proteins such as mAbs” (Figure 1) [3].

Figure 1: The convergence of therapeutics based on oncolytic viruses and monoclonal antibodies against immune checkpoint inhibotor proteins. Image Source: Eric Molina. No changes were made. Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0).

The combination of immune checkpoint inhibitors and oncolytic virus as a single molecular entity clearly has advantages in terms of manufacturing cost effectiveness. In addition viral vectors have the capacity for perfect specificity to tumours which has potential safety advantages.

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