The biotech is leveraging the potential of antibody-drug conjugates for non-internalizing targets in solid tumors through its proprietary Click-to-Release platform.
Pictured: Antibody Drug Conjugate with Cytotoxic Payload / iStock, Love Employee
Novartis is making a foray into the antibody-drug conjugates market with an investment in Tagworks Pharmaceuticals. Thursday, the Click-to-Release chemistry pioneer announced a $65 million Series A financing round.
With operations in the Netherlands and the U.S., Tagworks spun out of Philips Healthcare in 2011. Its technology platform is based on the 2022 Nobel Prize-winning research of Carolyn Bertozzi, Morten Meldal and Barry Sharpless for their development of click chemistry, which allows molecular building blocks to be snapped together like Legos to create complex molecules.
Similarly, Tagworks’ proprietary Click-to-Release platform utilizes a trigger molecule to control drug release with an in vivo click reaction. Its first application focuses on antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).
While big pharma has recently invested heavily in the ADC playing field, Tagworks is looking to take the modality to indications that traditional ADCs so far can’t reach. Its lead program, TGW101, targets TAG72, a non-internalizing target present in several solid tumors like breast, colorectal, stomach, lung, pancreatic, prostate and ovarian cancers.
In TGW101, the ADC is infused first to bind to the tumor, then cleared by the body from blood and healthy tissues. The trigger molecule is then injected to cleave the tumor-bound ADC to release the monomethyl auristatin E toxin to kill the tumor cells. Preclinical studies show the on-tumor activation of this ADC leads to high and long-lasting concentrations of the toxin within the tumor’s microenvironment.
Currently in IND-enabling studies, the Series A funds raised will be used to help get the ADC program toward the clinic and support Tagworks’ Click-to-Release platform. In addition to Novartis Venture Fund, the raise was led by Ysios Capital and Gilde Healthcare, with participation from New Enterprise Associates and Lightstone Ventures.
Tagworks’ discovery pipeline also includes a platform for click-cleavable radiotherapies. Radioimmunotherapy involves radiolabeled antibodies circulating for long periods in patients’ blood, leading to high radiation doses delivered to bone marrow. Doses are limited for safety, and therefore limited in efficacy.
Utilizing Click-to-Release, Tagworks is developing an off-target deactivation that can be injected to clear the radiolabeled antibodies once sufficient tumor cell localization has occurred. The first program targets HER2 breast and gastric cancers, while a second undisclosed program is underway in solid tumors.
Radioligand therapies is one of Novartis’ key platforms. The Swiss pharma already has two approved therapies on the market—Pluvicto and Lutathera. Following its early 2022 approval, Pluvicto is one of Novartis’ highest growth assets.
Kate Goodwin is a freelance life science writer based in Des Moines, Iowa. She can be reached at kate.goodwin@biospace.com and on LinkedIn.
