Corbus Pharmaceuticals (CRBP) 3rd Annual Guggenheim Healthcare Innovation Conference summary

Pipeline overview

• Boston-area drug developer with two unrelated clinical-stage assets: a Nectin-4-targeting MMAE ADC for cancer and an oral, once-daily CB1 inverse agonist for obesity.

• CRB-701 is a more stable Nectin-4 ADC designed to retain its MMAE warhead longer and reduce peripheral neuropathy and skin toxicity versus PADCEV.

CRB-701 oncology program

• TEMPO-1, a Phase III study in second-line or later oropharyngeal cancer, has started; a maturing Phase I dataset showed ~43% ORR with minimal peripheral neuropathy and skin effects.

• Oropharyngeal cancer is the initial focus because it is Nectin-4 enriched and remains an underserved setting, particularly for HPV-positive patients.

• Cervical cancer is the second targeted tumor type, with maturing Phase I data.

• Exploratory first-line CRB-701 plus pembrolizumab data are expected to mature enough for review in Q1 next year; the planned update is roughly 1–2 dozen patients and response rates, without mature durability data.

• The development plan aims to enroll TEMPO-1 toward a potential accelerated-approval filing; first-line expansion may offer a larger market if the data support it.

CRB-913 obesity program

• CRB-913 is a highly brain-excluded CB1 inverse agonist; its brain-to-plasma ratio is about 1/50th that of the earlier generation.

• In a roughly three-month, double-blind study of ~250 obese, non-diabetic patients, CRB-913 showed 5% placebo-adjusted weight loss; management said efficacy appeared similar to oral GLP-1 drugs.

• No suicidality was observed; mild depression and anxiety were similar to GLP-1 experience, with no difference versus placebo or dose response, and symptoms generally occurred early and were transient.

• Vomiting, nausea and constipation were markedly reduced; diarrhea appeared within the range described for oral to injectable GLP-1 drugs.

• Potential paths include monotherapy for patients unable to tolerate or respond to oral GLP-1s and combination use; combination benefits have been shown preclinically and remain to be tested clinically.