Glycotope Announces New Strategy to Maximize Potential of Uniquely-Tumor Specific Antibody Platform

Expansion of senior team to focus on drug discovery and development

24-Mar-2022 - Germany

Glycotope GmbH announces that is has completed a re-focusing of its strategy to better deliver value from its powerful, proprietary glycobiology-informed technology platform. The Company has also expanded its senior leadership team to accelerate the execution and delivery of this strategy.

Following the recent spin-out of its services business Glycotope is now entirely focused on drug discovery and development, utilizing its proprietary technology platform to develop uniquely tumor-specific monoclonal antibodies.

As a result of this shift in strategy and to optimize its delivery, the Company has undertaken an expansion of its senior leadership roles. Henner Kollenberg remains as Chief Executive Officer of Glycotope, Antje Danielczyk has been appointed Chief Operating Officer, responsible for Research & Development operations, while Patrik Kehler has been appointed Chief Scientific Officer, leading research and development.

Glycotope’s antibodies target specific tumor-associated carbohydrate structures or protein/carbohydrate combined glyco-epitopes (GlycoTargets). Targeting these specific antigens enables broad indication range, long-term treatment potential and reduced on-target/off tumor toxicity, key elements of highly potent therapies. Based on this unrivalled tumor-specificity, Glycotope’s antibodies are highly suitable for a multi-function platform approach with independent modes of action to provide a tailored therapy format for as many patients as possible.

The Company is currently developing a pipeline of antibody therapeutics which includes in-house and partnered pre-clinical programs:

GT-001: A humanized IgG1 mAb with unrivaled fine-specificity, specifically targeting the tumor-associated Lewis Y (LeY, CD174) carbohydrate antigen. GT-001 binds to a high percentage of breast cancers, non-small cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer, head and neck cancer, small cell lung cancer and ovarian cancer patient samples and is effectively internalized, making it suitable for ADC or CAR development.

GT-002: An IgG1 mAb targeting LYPD3 (C4.4A) with increased tumor-specificity. LYPD3 is expressed in various cancer indications with high medical need, including squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCC). Upon binding to LYPD3, the antibody is effectively internalized. The improved tumor-specificity of GT-002 results in reduced binding to healthy-tissue expressed LYPD3 making it suitable for the development of highly potent therapies like ADCs or CARs.

GT-00A: A humanized IgG1 mAb targeting a carbohydrate/protein combined epitope on MUC1 called tumor-associated (TA)-MUC1. GT-00A is in pre-clinical development as an IL-15-based immuno-cytokine and as an antibody-drug-conjugate (ADC) developed by Daiichi-Sankyo. TA-MUC1 is a novel tumor-specific protein/carbohydrate combined glyco-epitope on the tumor-marker MUC1. The target is expressed on many epithelial tumor types including primary tumor, metastases and cancer stem cells, but is virtually absent on normal cells. The main target indications are ovarian, lung and breast cancers but Glycotope believes GT-00A has further potential for treatment of cervical, endometrial, gastrointestinal, kidney, urothelial and other cancers.

Henner Kollenberg, Glycotope’s Chief Executive Officer, said “We believe there are a wealth of opportunities for our platform to deliver powerful new antibody therapeutics for oncology indications. The recent sale of our services business and the leadership team expansion we are announcing today marks a renewed focus on drug discovery and development. We look forward to the next stage of Glycotope’s development with great excitement about what we will be able to achieve as Company, for our partners and, ultimately, for patients.”

https://www.bionity.com/en/news/1178481/glycotope-announces-new-strategy-to-maximize-potential-of-uniquely-tumor-specific-antibody-platform.html