Aptamer Bioconjugates for Cancer Therapy

Characteristics

Over the past two decades, a large body of data has been generated that demonstrates the feasibility of antibodies for tissue targeting. The first FDA approval of a humanized monoclonal antibody for the treatment of cancer came in 1997 when rituximab (Rituxan) entered the market for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory low-grade or follicular, CD20 positive, B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. A wide variety of ligand-drug conjugates are now under clinical development or in clinical practice today. For example, gemtuzumab (Mylotarg) is an FDA-approved chemoimmunoconjugate for the treatment of acute myelogenous leukemia. Mylotarg is one of the four FDA-approved therapeutic conjugates. There are many others that are currently in various stages of clinical and preclinical development. In addition to antibodies, there is a growing list of ligand classes underdevelopment that are capable of binding to target antigens with high affinity and specificity. One...