Ligachem BioScience to Present Two Studies on CLDN18.2 ADC 'LCB02A' at ESMO 2026

Ligachem BioScience Co., Ltd. (Ligachem BioScience) announced on July 21 that two research abstracts on its in-house developed Claudin18.2 (CLDN18.2) targeted antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) candidate 'LCB02A' have been accepted for presentation at the 'ESMO Congress 2026,' the annual meeting of the European Society for Medical Oncology.

ESMO is considered, along with the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), one of the world’s largest clinical oncology conferences. This year, it will be held from October 23 to 27 in Madrid, Spain.

The accepted abstracts encompass two studies: one on the nonclinical efficacy and safety of LCB02A, and the other on the "Trial in Progress" design of a global Phase 1/2 clinical trial targeting patients with CLDN18.2-positive advanced solid tumors. As a result, the conference will feature a continuous presentation of the development process, from nonclinical evidence through clinical entry.

This clinical trial involves leading North American cancer centers, including Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (an affiliate of Harvard Medical School), Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Canada, and MUSC Hollings Cancer Center at the Medical University of South Carolina, as well as major South Korean hospitals such as Seoul National University Hospital, Asan Medical Center, and Samsung Medical Center. The selection of the institution to initiate the first human trial is considered a key indicator of the candidate’s evaluation, giving particular significance to the participation of these globally recognized cancer centers.

The clinical trial (NCT07460375) is a multicenter, multinational study enrolling up to 191 patients with CLDN18.2-positive advanced solid tumors who have failed standard therapies. It consists of a Phase 1 dose escalation stage and a Phase 2 dose expansion stage. In Phase 2, the antitumor effect will be assessed in solid tumor cohorts expressing CLDN18.2, including cases of gastric cancer, gastroesophageal junction cancer, and pancreatic cancer. Ligachem BioScience submitted the Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in April and received approval in May, aiming for first patient dosing in the third quarter of 2026.

LCB02A is an ADC that applies Ligachem BioScience’s proprietary ADC platform, 'ConjuAll™', site-specifically conjugating exatecan—a Topoisomerase I inhibitor (Topo1i) class payload—to the anti-CLDN18.2 antibody. This marks the company’s first diversification of its pipeline payloads beyond the existing focus on microtubule inhibitors (MMAE, MMAF) and PBD-class agents. The target, CLDN18.2, is a protein highly overexpressed on the surface of solid tumor cells, such as those in gastric and pancreatic cancers, while its expression in normal tissue is limited. Currently, no CLDN18.2-targeted ADC has been commercialized.

Sejin Park, CEO of Ligachem BioScience, said, "The selection of the first clinical trial site holds significant meaning in new drug development. With the first-in-human trials for LCB02A being conducted at highly reputable cancer centers in North America and South Korea, including Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, we believe the resulting data will carry substantial credibility and value in the global market."

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