Thursday, September 14, 2023
Harpoon Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: HARP), a company specializing in clinical-stage immuno-oncology and the development of innovative T cell engagers, has made an announcement regarding its HPN217 program targeting B cell maturation antigen (BCMA). AbbVie has informed the company that it will not be exercising its exclusive license option under the Development and Option Agreement between the two parties. The Agreement is set to terminate on October 12, 2023. Originally, this agreement granted AbbVie the option for a global, exclusive license to the HPN217 program. It's important to note that Harpoon will retain exclusive ownership of the program and intends to continue with the ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial, using the data to support the next phase of development.
Julie Eastland, President and CEO of Harpoon Therapeutics, highlighted the significant unmet medical needs of patients with advanced multiple myeloma, especially those who have already undergone BCMA-targeted therapies. She expressed her confidence in HPN217's potential to provide these patients with a unique treatment option. Additionally, Eastland mentioned plans to share interim results at the upcoming IMS meeting. The preliminary data from the HPN217 study has been encouraging, with a favorable safety profile.
Harpoon had previously announced the acceptance of an abstract and a poster presentation, which will cover preliminary data from the dose escalation phase of the Phase 1 study of HPN217 in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, up to and including the 12 mg cohorts. This presentation is scheduled for September 28, 2023, at the 20th International Myeloma Society (IMS) Annual Meeting in Athens, Greece.
Harpoon is committed to advancing its T cell engager pipeline, including HPN328, a DLL3-targeting TriTAC®, and HPN601, an EpCAM-targeting ProTriTAC™. The company intends to present interim Phase 1/2 clinical data for HPN328 at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) conference, which will take place from October 20 to 24, 2023.
