CLN-617 retains IL-2 and IL-12 in injected tumors to drive robust and systemic immune-mediated antitumor activity

Naveen K Mehta, Kavya Rakhra, Kristan A Meetze, Bochong Li, Noor Momin, Jason Yh Chang, K Dane Wittrup, Patrick A Baeuerle, Jennifer S Michaelson (2024 Jul 12) CLN-617 retains IL-2 and IL-12 in injected tumors to drive robust and systemic immune-mediated antitumor activity. Cancer Immunol Res. https://doi.org/10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-23-0636

Abstract cited directly from the article:

Despite clinical evidence of antitumor activity, the development of cytokine therapies has been hampered by a narrow therapeutic window and limited response rates. Two cytokines of high interest for clinical development are interleukin 2 (IL2) and interleukin 12 (IL12), which potently synergize to promote the activation and proliferation of T cells and NK cells. However, the only approved human IL2 therapy, Proleukin, is rarely used in the clinic due to systemic toxicities, and no IL12 product has been approved to date due to severe dose-limiting toxicities. Here, we describe CLN-617, a first-in-class therapeutic for intratumoral (IT) injection that co-delivers IL2 and IL12 on a single molecule in a safe and effective manner. CLN-617 is a single-chain fusion protein comprised of IL2, leukocyte-associated immunoglobulin-like receptor 2 (LAIR2), human serum albumin (HSA), and IL12. LAIR2 and HSA function to retain CLN-617 in the treated tumor by binding collagen and increasing molecular weight, respectively. We found that IT administration of a murine surrogate of CLN-617, mCLN-617, eradicated established treated and untreated tumors in syngeneic models, significantly improved response to anti-PD1 checkpoint therapy, and generated a robust abscopal response dependent on cellular immunity and antigen cross-presentation. CLN-617 is being evaluated in a clinical trial in patients with advanced solid tumors (NCT06035744).