MOv18 IgE

Ovarian cancer is the fifth most deadly cancer in women and represents a major unmet medical need. Folate receptor alpha (FR alpha) is an antigen present on over 70% of ovarian cancers and is also expressed on a variety of other cancers notably non-small cell lung and triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). While FR alpha is overexpressed in these cancers, it has very low expression across non-malignant tissues making it an ideal cancer target.

MOv18 IgE is a therapeutic antibody targeting FR alpha and is the world’s first IgE antibody to enter the clinic. It has completed a Phase I trial in cancer patients with advanced solid tumours expressing FR alpha. The antibody was found to be safe and well tolerated and showed initial signs of clinical activity. The results of the trial were published in Nature Communications.
(https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-39679-9)

IgE has a unique mechanism of action based around recruiting and activating a broad range of immune cells including T cells and myeloid cells. Preclinical data has shown that IgE antibodies can increase the levels of such cells inside the tumour thereby ‘warming up’ the tumour micro-environment (TME). We have found IgE to be active against tumours with very low levels of antigen expression. IgE therapeutics therefore have the potential to benefit a larger proportion of patients.

Epsilogen is actively recruiting for a Phase Ib trial in the United Kingdom (national clinical trial identifier NCT06547840) focussed on Platinum Resistant Ovarian Cancer (PROC). The primary aim of this trial is to explore the safe and effective treatment of patients with PROC, using MOv18 IgE.