I-Mab and ABL Bio Inc. jointly announced that data from the preclinical studies of TJ-CD4B/ABL111 and TJ-L14B/ABL503, will be presented at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer's 36th Annual Meeting, taking place November 12 – 14, 2021. Developed in collaboration with ABL, TJ-CD4B/ABL111 and TJ-L14B/ABL503 are part of I-Mab's highly differentiated bispecific antibody pipeline that target the 4-1BB co-stimulatory molecule on T-cells and mount an anti-tumor response. Both target a highly specific epitope on 4-1BB, which results in localized action and reduced systemic toxicity.

TJ-CD4B/ABL111 engages the Claudin18.2 tumor antigen mainly on gastric and pancreatic cancers to produce localized T-cell activation at the cancer site. It has demonstrated a strong affinity to CLDN18.2-positive cancer cells even at low levels of CLDN18.2 and has potential application in a wide range of cancers. TJ-CD4B/ABL111 is currently undergoing phase 1 trials in the U.S. and soon will be in China, in patients with advanced solid tumors, including gastric cancers.

TJ-L14B/ABL503 is a novel bi-specific antibody targeting both PD-L1 and 4-1BB. It engages the PD-L1 molecule on cancer cells and exerts a strong anti-tumor activity through localized activation of T-cells and it is designed to overcome the limited efficacy of anti-PD-L1 therapies and anti-4-1BB-related toxicity. TJ-L14B/ABL503 is currently undergoing a phase 1 clinical trial in the U.S. in patients with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors.