NEW YORK – Immuno-oncology imaging firm ImaginAb has initiated a Phase II trial of its positron emission tomography (PET) imaging agent [89] Zr-Df-IAB22M2C at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
The imaging agent uses antibody fragments, so called "minibodies," engineered by ImaginAb to target CD8-positive T cells, and illuminate them with the help of PET imaging. The platform is being developed to provide a whole-body snapshot of immune activity, including that of cancer lesions, which in turn could be used to tailor treatment more precisely to patients.
"ImaginAb's goal is to provide target-specific imaging agents to predict, inform, monitor and enable treatment of cancer disease more effectively," said ImagnAb CEO Ian Wilson in a statement.
At Dana-Farber, researchers will conduct Phase II trials exploring the ability of [89] Zr-Df-IAB22M2C to visualize CD8 T cells in metastatic cancer patients at baseline and after they have received immunotherapies, and measure how CD8-positive T cell distribution changes between these two time points. The trial will also evaluate the correlation between imaging signals using the PET imaging agent, standard scans, and immunohistochemistry analysis of CD8 in tissue biopsies.
Imagin Ab is also studying this CD8 PET tracer in metastatic cancers patients enrolled at CARTI Cancer Center in Arkansas and at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.