FDA assents to BioAtla’s IND for BA3011

The company focused on the development of Conditionally Active Biologic (CAB) protein therapeutics, BioAtla asserted that the U.S FDA has cleared Investigational New Drug application for BA3011, novel conditionally active AXL-targeted antibody-drug conjugate (CAB-AXL-ADC) set to become BioAtla’s first CAB investigational product to venture into Clinical trials in the U.S,  in patients with solid tumors. Under this IND, the company intends to initiate a first-in-human, open-label, multicenter, dose escalation and dose expansion study of CAB-AXL-ADC in patients with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors.

AXL appears to play a key role in sustaining a major mechanism of resistance to diverse anticancer therapies. In addition, AXL is a factor in the repression of the innate immune response which may also limit the response to treatment including immuno-oncology (IO) therapy.  While this makes the AXL receptor an attractive target for tumor therapy, the AXL receptor is also prevalent in normal tissue of several organs in the body.