Business Wire

CA-BIOCYTOGEN

Share
US FDA Approval of IND for CTLA-4 Antibody YH001 for the Treatment of Front-line Sarcoma Patients in Combination with Envafolimab

Biocytogen Pharmaceuticals (Beijing) Co., Ltd. ("Biocytogen") and TRACON Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: TCON), today jointly announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the Investigational New Drug (IND) application for the initiation of a Phase 1/2 clinical study of YH001 in combination with envafolimab and doxorubicin for the treatment of sarcoma patients, including patients who have not received prior therapy.

The Phase 1/2 trial will assess the safety and efficacy of YH001 and envafolimab in patients with the rare sarcoma subtypes of alveolar soft part sarcoma and chondrosarcoma and assess the safety and efficacy of the combination of YH001, envafolimab and doxorubicin in the common sarcoma subtypes of leiomyosarcoma and dedifferentiated liposarcoma.

“YH001 was discovered using Biocytogen’s evidence-based in vivo drug efficacy screening platform and has demonstrated a favorable safety profile and promising anti-tumor activity in combination with a PD-1 antibody in an earlier phase 1 clinical study,” said Rong Chen, M.D., Ph.D., VP of Biocytogen, CEO and CMO of Eucure Biopharma. “As an antibody targeting the validated checkpoint CTLA-4, YH001 is expected to play a very important role in immune-oncology therapy. We are glad to learn that the combination therapy of YH001 + envafolimab and doxorubicin received IND approval by the FDA.”

“We are pleased to receive approval from the FDA to initiate our triplet combination therapy study in sarcoma, which includes our potentially best-in-class CTLA-4 antibody YH001 and the only subcutaneous checkpoint inhibitor approved anywhere in the world, envafolimab,” said Charles Theuer, M.D., Ph.D., TRACON’s Chief Executive Officer. “We look forward to enrolling patients in this study and giving patients additional options for their sarcoma treatment.”

About YH001
YH001 is an IgG1 antibody targeting CTLA-4 that was invented by Biocytogen, the parent company of Eucure Biopharma, and licensed by TRACON. YH001 has shown enhanced antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and complement dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) in vitro when compared with ipilimumab. In preclinical studies YH001 demonstrated superior T cell activation and superior tumor growth inhibition activity compared to ipilimumab as a single agent and when combined with a PD-(L)1 antibody in human transgenic mouse tumor models. In these models, single agent YH001 depleted regulatory T cells and increased CD8+ T cells in tumor tissue. YH001 has been dosed as a single agent in a Phase 1 trial in China (NCT04699929) and in combination with the PD-1 antibody toripalimab in a Phase 1 trial in Australia (NCT04357756).

About Eucure Biopharma
As a wholly owned subsidiary of Biocytogen, Eucure Biopharma undertakes the mission of clinical development for Biocytogen’s R&D pipelines. Relying on a strong clinical development team and extensive clinical development experience, Eucure Biopharma focuses on antibody drug therapy for oncology and other indications. The company has established a product pipeline for more than 10 targets, with two products in launched phase II multi-regional clinical trials (MRCT) and two in phase I. For details, please visit www.eucure.com.

About Biocytogen
Biocytogen Pharmaceuticals (Beijing) Co., Ltd. is a global biotechnology company that drives the research and development of novel antibody-based drugs with innovative technologies. Using its proprietary RenMabTM /RenLite® mice platforms for fully human monoclonal and bispecific antibody development, Biocytogen has integrated its in vivo drug efficacy screening platforms and strong clinical development expertise to streamline the entire drug development process. Biocytogen is undertaking a large-scale project to develop antibody drugs for more than 1000 targets, known as Project Integrum, and has entered ongoing collaborations with dozens of partners worldwide to produce a variety of antibody drugs. The company's pipeline includes 12 core products, among which two products are in phase II multi-regional clinical trials and two products are in phase I. Headquartered in Beijing, Biocytogen has branches in Haimen Jiangsu, Shanghai and Boston, USA. For more information, please visit www.biocytogen.com.cn.

About TRACON
TRACON is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company utilizing a cost-efficient, CRO-independent, product development platform to advance its pipeline of novel targeted cancer therapeutics and to partner with other life science companies. The Company’s clinical-stage pipeline includes: Envafolimab, a PD-L1 single-domain antibody given by rapid subcutaneous injection that is being studied in the pivotal ENVASARC trial for sarcoma; YH001, a potential best-in-class CTLA-4 antibody in Phase 1 development; TRC102, a Phase 2 small molecule drug candidate for the treatment of lung cancer; and TJ004309, a CD73 antibody in Phase 1 development for the treatment of advanced solid tumors. TRACON is actively seeking additional corporate partnerships through a profit-share or revenue-share partnership, or through franchising TRACON’s product development platform. TRACON believes it can serve as a solution for companies without clinical and commercial capabilities in the United States or who wish to become CRO-independent. To learn more about TRACON and its product pipeline, visit TRACON’s website at www.traconpharma.com.

To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220829005548/en/

About Business Wire

Business Wire
Business Wire
101 California Street, 20th Floor
CA 94111 San Francisco

http://businesswire.com
DK

Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

Brands Poised for Growth: NIQ Identifies the Strategies Behind 2025’s Top Performing Innovations9.12.2025 12:00:00 CET | Press release

New analysis of 70,000+ manufacturers reveal the practices that double a brand’s chances of sustained sales growth. NielsenIQ (NYSE: NIQ), a global leader in consumer intelligence, today released its 4th Annual Innovation Vitality Report, revealing the strategies that are helping brands achieve multi-year growth from their innovation pipelines. Drawing on data from over 70,000 manufacturers across 130 categories, the report highlights the practices that double a company’s likelihood of expanding overall sales through top performing innovation. As retailers accelerate shelf refresh cycles and private label competition intensifies, brands are under increasing pressure to design innovations with staying power. NIQ’s findings show that top performing innovators consistently follow a repeatable formula, rooted in strong consumer-led ideas, early performance signals, and cross functional alignment, to build products that deliver long-term, incremental growth across global markets. Key Findin

Klarna Now Available on Apple Pay to Customers in France and Italy9.12.2025 11:49:00 CET | Press release

Klarna now live on Apple Pay in 8 countries — offering millions of consumers the ability to pay with installments when checking out online, in-app and in-person with Apple Pay Klarna, the global digital bank and flexible payments provider, has made its flexible payment products available when checking out on Apple Pay in France and Italy. Millions of eligible shoppers can now choose Klarna at checkout online and in-app using their iPhone and iPad, or in-store using their iPhone, and this innovative capability delivers even more convenience, control, and transparency to even more customers. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251209410835/en/ The continued expansion follows strong consumer adoption and momentum in Denmark, Spain, Sweden, the U.S., UK and Canada, where Klarna’s flexible payment options have become a popular way to pay with Apple Pay. With today’s launch, consumers across eight major markets can now

DNP Achieves 10nm Line Pattern Resolution on Nanoimprint Template for Cutting-Edge Semiconductors9.12.2025 11:12:00 CET | Press release

- Supports 1.4nm Generation Semiconductors, Reduces Manufacturing Costs and Energy Consumption - Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (DNP, TOKYO:7912) today announced the development of a nanoimprint lithography (NIL) template featuring a circuit line width of 10 nanometers (nm: 10-9 meter). The new template enables patterning for logic semiconductors equivalent to the 1.4nm generation and meets the miniaturization needs of cutting-edge logic semiconductors. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251208175160/en/ Template for nanoimprint Background and Aims In line with the shift to more sophisticated devices seen in recent years, demands have emerged for even greater miniaturization in cutting-edge semiconductors, leading to advances in Extreme Ultra-Violet (EUV) lithography-based production. EUV lithography, however, requires substantial capital investment, energy consumption, and operating costs in building production l

Reply Achieves the AWS Agentic AI Specialization and Is Named an Implementation Partner for Amazon Bedrock AgentCore9.12.2025 10:47:00 CET | Press release

Reply [EXM, STAR: REY] announced that it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Agentic AI Specialization, a new category within the AWS AI Competency. This recognition positions Reply and its companies specialized in AWS technologies - Data Reply and Storm Reply - among the AWS Partners able to help customers deploy smart, self-operating AI systems that can think, plan, and act autonomously to execute complex business processes. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251209601808/en/ Through Amazon Bedrock AgentCore, organizations can simplify and secure the development of intelligent agents at scale, interact with enterprise systems, analyze data in real time, and automate complex processes. The specialization further strengthens Reply’s long-standing expertise in AWS technologies and its ability to deliver production-ready autonomous AI systems based on Amazon Bedrock Agents and AWS-native frameworks, enabling

LabelVie Advances AI-Driven Grocery Retail Transformation Through Long-Standing Collaboration with SymphonyAI9.12.2025 10:00:00 CET | Press release

Longstanding collaboration powers data-driven supply chain innovation, driving measurable ROI and operational agility across LabelVie’s growing retail footprint For more than two decades, LabelVie Group has relied on SymphonyAI, a global leader in Vertical AI product platforms, to power its grocery retail transformation. Now, that partnership is entering a new phase — one defined by connected intelligence, predictive precision, and measurable impact across LabelVie’s 270-plus stores in Morocco and Ivory Coast. As one of North Africa’s largest and fastest-growing grocery retail and wholesale operators, LabelVie is advancing its digital modernization through SymphonyAI’s end-to-end retail solutions, which support greater visibility, accuracy, and operational coordination across its growing network. The continued collaboration reinforces a long-term commitment to improving supply-chain processes and store operations as LabelVie expands into new markets and grocery retail formats. “Symphon

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye