Oncopeptides AB (publ) announced that the first candidate drug based on the company´s unique platform for Small Polypeptide based innate Killer Engagers (SPiKE) has been selected. The SPiKE platform uses multi-specific constructs, able to bind to multiple targets simultaneously. The first drug candidate, OPSP1, is a bi-specific construct designed to both engage natural killer cells, a type of immune cell, and target cancer cells.

The goal of OPSP1 is to prove the ability of the SPiKE platform to activate these natural killer cells. To do this, OPSP1 targets a specific protein called BCMA that is expressed in some cancers including multiple myeloma. By targeting this protein, Oncopeptides will be able to assess how well the SPiKE platform can activate natural killer cells to fight cancer, a crucial step before continued clinical development of the SPiKE platform.

NK cell-mediated therapy represents a promising avenue in cancer immunotherapy, with ongoing research aimed at overcoming existing challenges and enhancing its therapeutic potential. As a next step for Oncopeptides, a first-in-human clinical trial will be designed to evaluate the safety, efficacy, and overall therapeutic potential of OPSP1. A pre-clinical project for the SPiKE platform has received a financial grant from the Eurostars 3-program, co-financed by the European Union research and innovation program "Horizon Europe" and is driven by an international research consortium that includes expertise from the department of Cancer Immunology at Oslo University Hospital, Pharmatest Services Ltd. in Turku, Finland and the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm (KTH), from where the technology originally stems. With thisgrant, Sweden's Innovation Agency, Vinnova, has provided Oncopeptides resources to develop pre-clinical proof of concept for a novel synthetic small polypeptide for the treatment of multiple myeloma.