Innate Pharma has started a new program named IPH43, to develop an anti-MICA therapeutic antibody in oncology.

The program is the newest to emerge from the company's discovery platform.

MICA, which is highly polymorphic ligand of the NK cell activating receptor NKG2D, is specifically expressed on several highly prevalent solid tumors including breast, colorectal and lung.

The company has generated a panel of high affinity antibodies recognizing all forms of MICA which is now being tested and optimized to select the best development candidate.

Innate Pharma CSO Nicolai Wagtmann said MICA's very clean expression profile on tumor cells and not healthy cells makes it an exciting target for cancer.

"Like with lirilumab, we successfully generated antibodies overcoming target polymorphism, which is a major challenge and a pre-requisite for development," Wagtmann said.

As of now, the company is seeking to apply its immunopharmacology and antibody-engineering platforms to further advance IPH43 towards clinical development.

Innate Pharma CEO Herve Brailly said, "Together with the recent start of IPH4102 development, the launch of the IPH43 program illustrates Innate Pharma's creativity and ability to spot novel targets for development of first-in-class antibody candidates in immuno-oncology."