CytomX Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharma company developing Probody therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, has advanced CX-2029, a Probody drug conjugate (PDC) targeting CD71, into GLP toxicology studies, a key step to filing an Investigational New Drug (IND) application in 2018. CytomX will receive a $15 million milestone payment from AbbVie as part of the companies 2016 strategic oncology collaboration.

“CD71 is highly attractive for delivery of cytotoxic payloads to cancer cells, but its presence on normal cells has precluded the development of antibody drug conjugates using this high-potential target. We have used our Probody platform to design and optimize CX-2029, a CD71-targeting Probody drug conjugate with the potential to safely and effectively treat a wide range of cancers,” said Sean McCarthy, D.Phil., president and chief executive officer of CytomX Therapeutics. “Rapid progression of the CX-2029 program to this important milestone has been enabled by our close collaboration with AbbVie, and we look forward to advancing this first-in-class molecule into the clinic.”