OncoTab, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based biotechnology company, has received a USD 1.13 million National Cancer Institute R44 SBIR Phase II grant to support IND-enabling development of MUCD3, a bispecific T-cell engager targeting truncated MUC1 (tMUC1) for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Unlike normal MUC1, the truncated form is selectively expressed on many pancreatic tumors while showing limited expression on healthy tissues, making it an attractive target for T-cell redirection.
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma remains one of the deadliest solid tumors, with most patients presenting with unresectable or metastatic disease and limited benefit from current chemotherapy regimens including FOLFIRINOX and gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel. OncoTab's approach pairs MUCD3 with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel, with the company reporting that preclinical studies demonstrated inhibition of chemotherapy-resistant tumors and reduced cytokine release compared with T-cell engager monotherapy.
MUCD3 is engineered to bind tMUC1, a glycoprotein aberrantly expressed on more than 80% of pancreatic cancers, while simultaneously engaging CD3 on T cells to redirect cytotoxic activity toward the tumor. The Phase II project will evaluate MUCD3 in pharmacokinetic studies, efficacy testing in four orthotopic patient-derived xenograft models, cytokine release studies using human samples, and non-human primate toxicology to support first-in-human development. Clinical oncologists from Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, Duke Health, and Levine Cancer Institute are collaborating on FIH trial design.
Founded in 2011 as a spinout from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte by cancer immunologist Pinku Mukherjee, OncoTab holds an exclusive license to the university's patented tumor-associated MUC1 (tMUC1) technology. In the T-cell engager space, OncoTab competes with programs targeting mesothelin, EGFR, and other PDAC-associated antigens from companies including Amgen and several clinical-stage biotechs. The tMUC1 antigen selection and the combination chemotherapy strategy distinguish MUCD3 from most current entrants, which are being evaluated predominantly as monotherapies or in checkpoint inhibitor combinations.