abagovomab

Abagovomab is a murine anti-idiotypic monoclonal antibody (Ab2) designed to mimic the epitope of the tumor-associated antigen CA-125 (MUC16), which is highly expressed in epithelial ovarian cancer. Developed by Menarini, it functions as a cancer vaccine by acting as a surrogate for the CA-125 antigen. Its mechanism of action involves stimulating the patient's immune system to produce anti-anti-idiotypic antibodies (Ab3) and activating CA-125-specific T-cell responses to recognize and eliminate residual tumor cells. Abagovomab was primarily investigated as a maintenance therapy for patients with ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who achieved complete clinical remission after first-line surgery and chemotherapy. Despite demonstrating safety and robust immunogenicity in Phase I and II trials, the pivotal Phase III MIMOSA trial failed to show a statistically significant improvement in recurrence-free survival or overall survival, leading to the discontinuation of its clinical development.

Other names

anti-idiotypic antibody ACA125murine anti-idiotypic antibody against CA-125