COM902, a novel therapeutic antibody targeting TIGIT augments anti-tumor T cell function in combination with PVRIG or PD-1 pathway blockade

• DOI: 10.1007/s00262-021-02921-8
• Publication Date: 2021-04-26T17:09:16Z
• Authors: Kyle Hansen; Sandeep Kumar; Kathryn Logronio; Sarah Whelan; Samir Qurashi; Hsin-Yuan Cheng; Andrew Drake; Margaret Tang; Patrick Wall; David Bernados; Ling Leung; Eran Ophir; Zoya Alteber; Gady Cojocaru; Moran Galperin; Masha Frenkel; Mark White; John Hunter; Spencer C. Liang; Maya F. Kotturi
• Keywords: TIGIT; Immune checkpoint

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have emerged as promising therapies for the treatment of cancer. However, existing ICIs, namely PD-(L)1 and CTLA-4 inhibitors, generate durable responses only in a subset of patients. TIGIT is a co-inhibitory receptor and member of the DNAM-1 family of immune modulating proteins. We evaluated the prevalence of TIGIT and its cognate ligand, PVR (CD155), in human cancers by assessing their expression in a large set of solid tumors. TIGIT is expressed on CD4+ and CD8+ TILs and is upregulated in tumors compared to normal tissues. PVR is expressed on tumor cells and tumor-associated macrophages from multiple solid tumors. We explored the therapeutic potential of targeting TIGIT by generating COM902, a fully human anti-TIGIT hinge-stabilized IgG4 monoclonal antibody that binds specifically to human, cynomolgus monkey, and mouse TIGIT, and disrupts the binding of TIGIT with PVR. COM902, either alone or in combination with a PVRIG (COM701) or PD-1 inhibitor, enhances antigen-specific human T cell responses in-vitro. In-vivo, a mouse chimeric version of COM902 in combination with an anti-PVRIG or anti-PD-L1 antibody inhibited tumor growth and increased survival in two syngeneic mouse tumor models. In summary, COM902 enhances anti-tumor immune responses and is a promising candidate for the treatment of advanced malignancies.