Pomezia, September 19, 2018 – Menarini Ricerche will present tomorrow, September 20^th, at the 60^th Annual Meeting of the Italian Cancer Society (SIC), new preclinical data showing that pre-treatment with 5-Azacytidine and Decitabine enhances the Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) of the clinical candidate MEN1112/OBT357 on several Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) cell lines.

MEN1112/OBT357 is a monoclonal antibody targeting CD157, a myeloid marker present on leukemia cells. Menarini has partnered with Oxford BioTherapeutics to conduct the development of the compound. A comprehensive work of preclinical characterization has been already fulfilled and MEN1112/OBT357 is currently in phase I clinical trial for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).

The experimental results that will be presented strongly suggest that pre-treatment with 5-Azacytidine and Decitabine enhances the cell killing activity of MEN1112/OBT357 on SKNO-1, HL60 and K052 cell lines.

“We observed a statistically significant synergism between different doses of MEN1112/OBT357 and 5-Azacytidine and Decitabine on a number of AML cell lines” said Monica Binaschi, PhD, Director of the Preclinical and Translational Oncology Department of Menarini Ricerche, “These results seem to confirm the immune-modulatory role of 5-Azacytidine and Decitabine, which may increase the sensitivity  of leukemic cells to MEN1112/OBT357. These new findings suggest that pretreatment with these two agents could promote and enhance tumor cell killing activity by MEN1112/OBT357, and provide a strong rationale for evaluating these combinations in clinical trial.”

The poster “The ADCC-mediated activity of the de-fucosylated monoclonal antibody MEN1112/OBT357 is increased by pre-treatment with 5-Azacytidine and Decitabine in acute myeloid leukemia cell lines” will be presented on September 20^th, 2018, 12.00-13.00 and on September 21^st, 2018, 12.00-13.00.