The collaboration will support an investigator-initiated clinical trial assessing ADZE1.C in hard-to-treat breast cancer subtypes
Adze Biotechnology, a preclinical-stage company developing systemically deliverable oncolytic immunotherapies, is collaborating with King's College London to support an investigator-initiated clinical trial assessing ADZE1.C in hard-to-treat breast cancer subtypes, including treatment-resistant triple-negative and estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancers.
The partnership is expanding Adze's clinical development programme beyond metastatic melanoma and into a sector of unmet medical needs.
Dr Paola Grandi, chief scientific officer of Adze Biotechnology, said, “We are thrilled to collaborate with King’s College London on this important clinical study. Our goal is to harness the potential of ADZE1.C to reprogram the tumour microenvironment and activate systemic anti-tumour immunity — particularly in cancers that have resisted standard treatments and continue to pose immense challenges for patients and clinicians”.
Professor Sheeba Irshad, professor of cancer immunology at King's College London and consultant medical oncologist specialising in breast cancer, will lead the study.
Irshad said, “I believe ADZE1.C has the potential to address the profound unmet needs of patients with resistant breast cancers. We urgently need innovative immunotherapies that can shift the needle for patients who currently have very limited treatment options.”
Professor Richard Vile, professor of Immunology at King’s College London, said, "This is an exciting and important collaboration for King’s. We look forward to working with Adze to advance new immunotherapeutic strategies for breast cancer.”
Several breast cancers are considered immunologically 'cold' tumours because they are poorly infiltrated by immune cells and typically do not respond well to existing immunotherapies.
ADZE1.C hopes to turn cold tumours 'hot' by reprogramming the tumour microenvironment to activate an immune response. The upcoming study will determine the safety, tolerability, and potential clinical benefit of ADZE1.C in these hard-to-treat patient groups.
