A research group led by Professor Satoru Konnai (Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine) and Professor Yasuhiko Suzuki, Keiichi Yamamoto, who is the project manager of IVReD,  developed an antibody drug that blocks CTLA-4, an immune checkpoint molecule (immunosuppressant molecule), and conducted clinical research at the Hokkaido University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, reporting for the first time in the world that it has an antitumor effect against advanced malignant tumors in dogs. For more details, please click here.

Point

• Successful development of an antibody drug that inhibits the canine immune checkpoint molecule (CTLA-4).
• Tumor regression effect was demonstrated in clinical research at Hokkaido University Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
• High hopes for the realization of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy (immunotherapy) for cancer in dogs.

The results of this research indicate that immunotherapy using anti-CTLA-4 antibodies in combination with anti-PD-L1 antibodies may be effective even in dogs that have become resistant to treatment with anti-PD-L1 antibodies alone, providing important findings that could lead to the realization of new immunotherapy for canine tumors.