Roider et al. demonstrated that CCR8 is predominantly expressed on activated tumor‑infiltrating regulatory T cells, and developed BAY 3375968, a novel fully human afucosylated monoclonal IgG1 anti-CCR8 antibody that effectively depleted Tregs. The preclinical antitumor activity of anti-mouse CCR8 antibodies was dependent on Fc-mediated effector functions, inducing antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and phagocytosis. Combination of CCR8+ Treg depletion with immune checkpoint blockade enhanced antitumor responses, and induced long‑term and transplantable antitumor immunological memory.

Contributed by Shishir Pant

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are known to facilitate tumor progression by suppressing CD8+ T cells within the tumor microenvironment (TME), thereby also hampering the effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). While systemic depletion of Tregs can enhance antitumor immunity, it also triggers undesirable autoimmune responses. Therefore, there is a need for therapeutic agents that selectively target Tregs within the TME without affecting systemic Tregs. In this study, as shown also by others, the chemokine (C-C motif) receptor 8 (CCR8) was found to be predominantly expressed on Tregs within the TME of both humans and mice, representing a unique target for selective depletion of tumor-residing Tregs. Based on this, we developed BAY 3375968, a novel anti-human CCR8 antibody, along with respective surrogate anti-mouse CCR8 antibodies, and demonstrated their in vitro mode-of-action through induction of potent antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and phagocytosis (ADCP) activities. In vivo, anti-mouse CCR8 antibodies effectively depleted Tregs within the TME primarily via ADCP, leading to increased CD8+_T cell infiltration and subsequent tumor growth inhibition across various cancer models. This monotherapeutic efficacy was significantly enhanced in combination with ICIs. Collectively, these findings suggest that CCR8 targeting represents a promising strategy for Treg depletion in cancer therapies. BAY 3375968 is currently under investigation in a Phase I clinical trial (NCT05537740).

Author Info: (1) Bayer AG, Pharmaceuticals, Berlin, Germany. (2) Bayer AG, Pharmaceuticals, Berlin, Germany. (3) Bayer AG, Pharmaceuticals, San Francisco, USA. (4) Bayer AG, Pharmaceuticals, Be

Author Info: (1) Bayer AG, Pharmaceuticals, Berlin, Germany. (2) Bayer AG, Pharmaceuticals, Berlin, Germany. (3) Bayer AG, Pharmaceuticals, San Francisco, USA. (4) Bayer AG, Pharmaceuticals, Berlin, Germany. (5) Bayer AG, Pharmaceuticals, Wuppertal, Germany. (6) Bayer AG, Pharmaceuticals, Wuppertal, Germany. Current address: Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Penzberg, Germany. (7) Bayer AG, Pharmaceuticals, Wuppertal, Germany. Current address: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, USA. (8) Bayer AG, Pharmaceuticals, Berlin, Germany. (9) Bayer AG, Pharmaceuticals, Wuppertal, Germany. (10) Bayer AG, Pharmaceuticals, Berlin, Germany. (11) Bayer AG, Pharmaceuticals, Wuppertal, Germany. (12) Bayer AG, Pharmaceuticals, Wuppertal, Germany. (13) Bayer AG, Pharmaceuticals, Wuppertal, Germany. (14) Bayer AG, Pharmaceuticals, Berlin, Germany. (15) Bayer AG, Pharmaceuticals, Berlin, Germany. (16) Bayer AG, Pharmaceuticals, Wuppertal, Germany. Current address: Vincerx Pharma, Monheim am Rhein, Germany. (17) Bayer AG, Pharmaceuticals, Berlin, Germany. matyas.gorjanacz@bayer.com.