SAN DIEGO, March 7, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cidara Therapeutics, Inc. CDTXa biotechnology company developing long-acting therapeutics designed to help improve the standard of care for patients with serious diseases, presented preclinical data on a CD73-targeted drug-Fc conjugate (DFC) candidate, CBO-212, from Cloudbreak des company^® Platform at the ESMO Targeted Anticancer Therapies Congress (ESMO TAT) in Paris, 6-8 March 2023.

“The preclinical data presented at ESMO TAT represents an important advance for Cidara in oncology as these nonclinical results are the first to demonstrate the antitumor potential of a cloudbreak product candidate,” said Jeffrey Stein, Ph.D. President and Chief Executive Officer of Cidara. “We are initially focusing on CD73 due to its documented contribution to immune evasion through the production of immunosuppressive adenosine in the tumor microenvironment. We believe that a CD73-targeted DFC that combines the beneficial properties of small molecule and monoclonal antibody inhibitors has the potential to ultimately provide a meaningful solution for patients.”

The presented preclinical studies evaluated the functional activity, internalization and inhibition of CD73 by CBO-212 in both cell-free and cell-based assays. Key highlights include:

• CBO-212 inhibited cell-anchored and soluble forms of CD73, both of which may contribute to immunosuppressive adenosine production in the tumor microenvironment, while positive control CD73 inhibitor monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), currently in clinical development, acted primarily on cell-anchored CD73.
• CBO-212 restored activation of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells suppressed with adenosine monophosphate to a greater extent than the mAb comparators and similar to the small molecule inhibitors tested.
• In contrast to tested small molecule inhibitors currently in development, multivalent presentation of CD73 inhibitors on CBO-212 induced receptor internalization and a subsequent reduction in…