“Targeting the so-called ‘don’t eat me’ signal is a promising therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment. In comparison to existing ‘don’t eat me’ blockers such as anti-CD47 monoclonal antibodies, ATG-031 demonstrated a wider therapeutic window and the ability to overcome the on-target-off-tumor toxicities observed with CD47 inhibitors,” said Dr. Bing Hou, Antengene’s Executive Director of Drug Discovery and a co-inventor of ATG-031. “CD24 is a small and highly glycosylated protein that makes the development of antibodies particularly challenging. Through our persistent experimental efforts and by adopting unique discovery and screening strategies as well as leveraging our deep expertise on the target’s biology, Antengene’s discovery scientists successfully advanced ATG-031, an antibody with optimal characteristics, into clinical development in just three years. We are thrilled to see our in-house developed first-in-class drug entering the clinic and taking a major step towards benefiting patients.”
