Trio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a cancer therapeutics company developing novel dual action antibody drugs, and Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services, have entered a development collaboration to evaluate AJICAP, a site-specific conjugation technology offered by Aji Bio-Pharma for the development of TRIObody Drug Conjugates (TDCs). The AJICAP technology will be used to conjugate a cytotoxic payload to TRIO’s lead oncology candidate with TRIO evaluating functionality of the TDC.

TDCs are a first-in-class ADC with dual functionality. TRIO’s dual action TDC utilizes targeted payload delivery to stop both tumor growth and immunosuppression. TDC enhances activation of tumor-specific immune effector cells further facilitating cancer cell destruction. AJICAP is a robust site-specific conjugation technology compatible with varied antibody modalities. AJICAP’s “off-the-shelf” feature allows any antibody drug at any stage of development to be conjugated to drug-payloads of choice without the need to modify the sequence.

“We are very excited to collaborate with Aji Bio-Pharma for evaluating AJICAP to develop our proprietary dual action TDC. The AJICAP conjugation technology marks a new beginning in the ADC field, allowing generation of ADCs with site-specific conjugation without change in antibody sequence, a rate-limiting step in the development of site-specific ADCs. Setting an early collaboration with Aji Bio-Pharma will ease our cGMP plans for clinical development,” said Dr. Shiva Bhowmik, Founder and CEO of Trio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Dr. Brian Mendelsohn, Director, Process Development and Technology Transfer at Aji Bio-Pharma said, “AJICAP was developed to create novel ADCs with therapeutic window enhancements, while shortening the development timeline. We are excited to collaborate with TRIO as they advance TDC technology, developing a new class of ADCs. This collaboration marks a new avenue of development in the ADC field.”