Starpharma has applied its DEP® technology to the innovative and cutting-edge area of Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs). ADCs utilise the targeting and specificity of antibodies as drug carriers to transport toxic drugs to tumour sites. ADCs consist of antibodies, linkers, and toxic payloads. The active payloads in ADCs are mainly microtubule inhibitors and DNA-damaging agents, which are linked to the antibodies via chemical conjugation.

HER2-targeted DEP ADC 

Starpharma’s HER2-targeted DEP® ADC is a preclinical-stage DEP® ADC that targets the HER2 receptor. Starpharma’s HER2-targeted DEP® ADC has been designed with a higher Drug-to-Antibody Ratio (DAR) or drug loading than currently marketed ADCs. The DAR of ADCs is important for their therapeutic efficacy, pharmacokinetics and therapeutic index.

Key advantages of Starpharma’s DEP® platform for ADCs

• Ability to achieve higher DAR and higher drug loading than conventional ADCs.
• Greater flexibility in terms of linker strategies to precisely control drug release profiles.
• Capacity to widen the therapeutic index of toxic drug payloads.
• Ability to penetrate deeply into tumours, bind strongly to target cells and internalise for enhanced performance.
• Enhanced efficacy leading to enhanced survival.
• Flexibility in terms of compatible targeting agents, including biologics (whole antibodies and fragments), small molecules, peptides and other approaches.