BiTE and Switch

Micromet Inc. presented data last week showing that its BiTEs based on Erbitux cetuximab and Vectibix panitumumab are capable of overcoming resistance mechanisms related to K-Ras (KRAS) and BRAF that hamper both of the marketed anti-EGFR antibodies. But given the IP issue, the company has no intention of taking these compounds into the clinic. Instead, it hopes to move a proprietary anti-EGFR BiTE into human studies in 2011.

"Erbitux and Vectibix have both proven to be useful cancer drugs and are known to work by blocking the EGFR signaling pathway. But as was highlighted at last year's ASCO meeting, there are a fair amount of patients with mutations in the pathway, such as K-Ras or BRAF, who do not benefit from treatment," President and CEO Christian Itin told BioCentury...