Shanghai, China. April 25, 2022——Innolake Biopharm today announced the first patient has been dosed in a phase 1a clinical trial of a novel A2a receptor antagonist (ILB-2109). ILB-2109 is an investigational therapy for the treatment of advanced solid malignancies and Innolake has its global intellectual property rights.
This trial (NCT05278546) is an open-label, multicenter, phase Ia study to evaluate the safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of ILB-2109 in patients with locally advanced or metastatic solid malignancies.
In recent years, immunotherapy has brought many breakthrough successes in the field of oncology. However, the compensatory pathways existing in the tumor microenvironment result in immunosuppression and poor response rate in significant subsets of patients. Research has shown that there are a variety of immunosuppressive mechanisms in the tumor microenvironment. Among them, the CD39 – CD73 - A2aR adenosine signaling pathway is one of the most significant. Located downstream of the pathway, the A2a receptor is mainly expressed on immune cells such as T cells, natural killer cells, monocytes and dendritic cells. When A2a receptor binds to its ligand adenosine, a cascade of signaling pathways is activated, which ultimately results in the inhibition of innate and adaptive immunities. By developing the novel A2a receptor antagonist ILB-2109, Innolake hopes to bring a new choice of immunotherapy to the patients. Globally, there has been no similar drug targeting A2a receptor or adenosine signaling pathway approved as anticancer therapy for marketing.
Dr. Mingde Xia, the founder, CEO and Chairman of Innolake stated “ILB-2109 is one of Innolake clinical stage assets. Its first patient enrollment marks a critical milestone in Innolake’s rapid pipeline development. The preclinical studies have demonstrated that ILB-2109 has outstanding safety and efficacy features. As a novel adenosine receptor antagonist regulating the tumor microenvironment, ILB-2109 has the potential to bring unique clinical benefits to patients with advanced malignancies. Right now, we are in a critical period of the battle against the COVID19 pandemic. Together with our investigators, we will safeguard the well-being of our study participants in this turbulent time. The global study of ILB-2109 is currently under planning.”
About Innolake Biopharm
Innolake Biopharm is a clinical-stage biotech company, dedicated to developing innovative medicines to improve the life of patients with cancer or autoimmune diseases around the world. The company was founded by Dr. Mingde Xia and Mr. Robert Chen in 2020. The company completed Pre-Series A financing of $40 million in March 2021. It was recognized as one of “the Next Unicorns in Hangzhou” and the youngest biotech on "2021 China Biopharmaceutical Industry Innovation Top100 List". Innolake’s core strengths lie with the in-house discovery platform that encompasses small molecule, biologics and ADC R&D, and a management team that possesses deep industry knowledge and international competitive advantages. Through both in-house R&D and strategic collaborations with domestic and international partners, Innolake has established a diverse portfolio that includes more than 10 oncology and autoimmune product candidates with First-in-Class and Best-in-Class potential, of which two have entered the clinical development stage.