Summary of Invention
Approximately 60,000 people are expected to be diagnosed with melanoma in 2007 in the US alone; 8000 will die of melanoma. Although there are several treatment options for metastatic melanoma, overall response rates are generally less then 20 percent and no treatment has been shown to improve median survival.
The R24 antibody was originally developed at MSKCC as a mouse IgG3 monoclonal antibody against disialoganglioside GD3. GD3 is highly expressed on melanomas, sarcomas, astrocytomas and neuroblastomas.
R24 functions as single agent, as opposed to other antibodies that require labeling with a cytotoxic agent or a radioactive isotope to be therapeutically active. Despite the fact that R24 induces neutralizing anti-mouse-antibodies in patients after only 2 or 3 treatments, objective responses have been seen in 10% of patients treated in a large series of clinical trials performed at many different institutions around the world. This response rate is equivalent to the response rate seen with several FDA-approved human monoclonal antibodies.
We expect that the clinical effectiveness of R24 would be greatly enhanced if it could be administered multiple times without inducing neutralizing antibodies. To accomplish this, MSKCC now has a humanized version of R24 antibody (hR24) ready for further development.
Thus, we have a humanized version of a mouse monoclonal antibody that has already demonstrated reproducible clinical activity. With the infrastructure at MSKCC and our expertise in monoclonal antibody clinical development, we are well-positioned for rapid clinical development of hR24 in an area of great need for improved therapeutic options.
Advantages
MSKCC's infrastructure and expertise in clinical development of monoclonal antibodies are further assets we can offer to facilitate rapid clinical development of hR24, a humanized version of a mouse monoclonal antibody that has already demonstrated reproducible clinical activity in an area of great need for improved therapeutic options.
Area of Application
Treatment of late stage melanoma
Lead Inventor
Dr. Paul Chapman
References
Patent Information
World-wide patent protection available
Contact Information
Imke Ehlers, PhD
Tel. 212-639-6181; Fax 212-717-3439
E-mail: ehlersi@mskcc.org
