Further, a mouse-reactive NGM438 surrogate antibody sensitized refractory KP mouse lung tumors to anti-PD-1 therapy and resulted in increased intratumoral CD8+ T cell content and inflammatory gene expression. These data place LAIR1 at the intersection of stroma and suppressive myeloid cells and support the notion that blockade of the LAIR1/collagen axis can potentially address resistance to checkpoint inhibitor therapy in the clinic.
NGM438 was tested using several immune cell-based functional assays, alone and in combination with the anti-PD1 mAb, pembrolizumab. NGM438 is a novel LAIR1 antagonist mAb that reverses collagen-based immune suppression. LAIR1 was expressed on cancer patient circulating and intratumoral immune cells, and LAIR1-expressing cells were often found in collagen-rich tumor stroma. Preclinical data demonstrated that LAIR1 antagonism sensitized a resistant mouse tumor model to respond to anti-PD1 mAb treatment.