Jeng Her

CEO
AP Biosciences

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Dr. Jeng Her is the founder and CEO of AP Biosciences, a clinical stage bifunctional biologics development company founded in 2013. He received a bachelor’s degree in Physics from the National Taiwan University, before turning into biology and earned a Ph.D. degree in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Virginia in 1993.
 
Before starting up AP Biosciences in Taiwan, he had co-founded KaloBios Pharmaceuticals in the San Francisco Bay area soon after his post-doctoral training at Bristol-Myers Squibb and DNAX Research Institute (now part of Merck). At KaloBios, he co-invented the antibody Humaneering™, a technology which converts non-human antibodies into engineered human-like antibodies with sequences close to the germline to minimize immunogenicity. The technology was then licensed to Novartis non-exclusively for $32M. In 2013, KaloBios went public on NASDAQ with three antibodies in clinical trials, including KB001 for ventilator-associated pneumonia, which was licensed to Sanofi-Pasteur for $270 million.
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Speech title & Synopsis

T-cube, a non-CD3-based T cell engager bispecific antibody platform with a favorable safety profile 

First generation T-cell engagers are bispecific antibodies (bsAb), which bind to CD3 on T cells and a tumor-associated target on cancer cells to mediate cancer cell killing.  By far, there are at least 9 CD3-based bsAb approved by FDA, offering new treatment options for patients with various hematologic malignancies and solid tumors.  However, CD3-based T-cell engagers (TCEs) may come with distinct safety concerns due to their mechanism of action: forcibly redirecting T cells to kill tumor cells by engaging CD3 (on T cells) and a tumor-associated antigen. This immune redirection can lead to serious and sometimes life-threatening adverse events, caused by rapid and massive T-cell activation and cytokine production.
 
T-cube bsAbs are developed by AP Biosciences as the next generation TCEs which stimulate T cells through CD137, instead of CD3.  These bsAbs are engineered to activate T cells conditionally in tumor microenvironments to reduce systemic toxicity.  Currently there are two T-cube bsAbs, AP203 and AP402, in phase I studies, and the third one entering human trials around end of the year.