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Abstract Purpose: CD20 is known to be a therapeutic antibody drug target as it is expressed on the surface of most B-cell neoplasms. Here, we assessed the anti-tumor activity of EDC9, a novel extracellular drug conjugate composed of Rituximab (a well know and FDA approved anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody) conjugated to a steroidal glycoside via a long, flexible and stable linker. Experimental Design: The anti-cancer activity and safety of EDC9 were examined and compared to Rituximab using in vitro and in vivo techniques. Results: We found that EDC9 showed picomolar cytotoxic activity that was independent of effector functions and exhibited cytotoxic activity through a mechanism that was dependent on CD20 expression, as cells not expressing CD20 were resistant and Rituximab alone could compete with EDC9, rendering it inactive. After 72 hours of EDC9 treatment at levels between 100 and 200 picomolar, no cells were determined to be viable by CellTiter-Glo or high definition phase contrast imaging. Importantly, when compared on the basis of toxicity to PBMC, EDC9 was found not to be more toxic than Rituximab and the activity of EDC9 was dependent on specific steroid chemistry. In a tumor xenograft model, EDC9 provided complete long-term remission of diffuse large B-cell human lymphoma line SU-DHL-8 tumors, while Rituximab alone did not. Conclusion: These results support efforts to further evaluate EDC9 (a novel CD20 specific antibody drug conjugate) and may lead to phase I clinical trials in patients with certain B-cell related malignancies. Citation Format: James R. Prudent, Chad A. Hall, David J. Marshall, John Murphy, Scott Harried. An anti-CD20 extracellular antibody-drug conjugate for the treatment of B-cell malignancies. abstract. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2964.
Prudent et al. (Fri,) studied this question.