Discovery Programs

In addition to the antibodies already in the company’s product candidate pipeline, AVEO has utilized its Human Response Platform™ (HRP) to identify a number of additional targets that appear to be potent drivers of tumor growth. The company has further evaluated the involvement of these targets in the development of human cancers using available human cancer databases. Targets with the ability to drive tumor growth in the tumor models and with frequent genetic alterations in human cancers were selected as targets for AVEO’s next generation of antibody drug discovery programs. The targets focused on to date are the RON receptor, the Notch receptors and FGF receptors.

 

RON is a receptor closely related to c-Met, which is the receptor for HGF, the target of
AV-299. The activation of RON signaling is believed to trigger many of the same cellular activities as activation of the HGF/c-Met pathway. Like c-Met, RON has been implicated in promoting tumor cell metastasis and invasiveness in breast, bladder, pancreatic and colon cancers.  Read more about AVEO’s RON antibody program.

In vivo genetic screens conducted using AVEO’s HRP have demonstrated that activation of the Notch signaling pathway is a potent driver of tumor growth and confirmed its important role in tumorigenesis in vivo. AVEO’s Notch drug discovery efforts are focused on identifying specific inhibitory antibodies to Notch1, Notch2 and Notch3 that prevent ligand binding and activation of the receptors. Read more about AVEO’s Notch antibody program.

 

Fibroblast growth factors, or FGFs, and their receptors, FGFR1-4, represent a signaling network that plays important roles in the regulation of cell growth, survival, differentiation and angiogenesis. Through its HRP, AVEO has identified FGF ligands and receptors as powerful drivers of tumor growth in a variety of tumor models and implicated the activation of the pathway in tumor development. Read more about AVEO’s FGF antibody program.