Xencor, Inc. (NASDAQ:XNCR) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Operator: Thank you very much. One moment for our last question. Our last question comes from Peter Lawson of Barclays. Your line is open.

Unidentified Analyst: This is Alex on for Peter. Thanks for taking our questions. Just one on the ENPP3 program, I was wondering if you could remind us some of the shortcomings of the Astellas ADC going after the same target and what might be the benefits of a bispecific approach. Thank you.

Bassil Dahiyat: Yeah. John, do you want to tackle that one?

John Desjarlais: Yeah. Sure. Yeah. In fact, it was — when we kind of discovered ENPP3 ourselves using a bioinformatic approach looking for selectively expressed tumor-associated antigens. And then we became aware of the Astellas programs once we dug in the literature. I have to say, they had half decent data. I mean they saw responses in Phase 1. Of course, because they had an orstatin payload, they had dose-limiting ocular toxicity. I think that was an interesting time because that was an Agensys program that Astella had acquired Agensys. And from what we know, from folks that have worked there, it was more of a strategic decision to discontinue that program. But we saw it as actually excellent validation for the selectivity of the target and the safety of going after the target.

Operator: Thank you very much. At this time, I would now like to turn the conference back over to Bassil Dahiyat for closing remarks.

Bassil Dahiyat: Okay. Thanks very much, everybody, for joining us this afternoon. Have a great evening, and we look forward to updating you again in the near future.

Operator: This concludes today’s conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.