ANTI CD37 ANTIBODIES FOR CLL Does anyone has experience with these new antibodies in a clinical trial ?

[Pharma]

[Cllcanada Top Poster CURE Hero]

What like TRU-016?

[Pharma]

There are many of them in clinical trial phase 1 : otlertuzumab (formerly known as TRU-016), BI 836826, IMGN529 and (177)Lu-tetulomab.

CD37 may offer advantages over CD20 as a target for CLL cells.

It is selectively expressed on normal mature B cells and by most B-cell malignancies.

Anti-CD37 antibodies may be useful for patients resistant or refractory to anti-CD20 mAb therapy or relapsing after such treatment.

Here is what I have found on the Boehringer Ingelheim oncology website:

On the surface of malignant B-cells the tetraspanin CD37 is highly expressed and represents a potential target for immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies.

Effector cells like natural killer cells are able to bind IgG via their Fc-receptors. The CD37 antibody has an altered Fc-portion, which has a stronger affinity to the Fc-receptor than the plasma IgG. That enables it to replace the physiological IgG.

Research into monoclonal antibodies that bind to CD37 is currently an area of focus for Boehringer Ingelheim.

As demonstrated in in-vitro studies when the effector cell binds to the CD37 antibody attached to the malignant B-cell, antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity is induced. The effector cell releases cytoplasmic granules leading to cell death.

A second possibility of target cell destruction by CD37 antibody is the direct induction of apoptosis, also as demonstrated in in-vitro studies.

On in-vitro studies, the binding of the CD37 antibody causes apoptosis independent of effector cells.