AB Science announces that a new independent publication confirms the role of masitinib as a potential therapy in pancreatic cancer

NEW INDEPENDENT PUBLICATION IN THE PEER-REVIEWED SCIENTIFIC REVIEW CELLS CONFIRMS THE ROLE OF MASITINIB AS A POTENTIAL THERAPY IN PANCREATIC CANCER

IDENTIFICATION OF TWO TISSUE BIOMARKERS THAT COULD POTENTIALLY SERVE AS PREDICTIVE BIOMARKERS OF RESPONSE FOR MASITINIB TREATMENT

Paris, 23 February 2021, 8am CET

AB Science SA (NYSE Euronext - FR0010557264 - AB) today announced the publication of a peer-reviewed research article in which the authors conclude that inhibition of mast cells with masitinib could represent a novel antiangiogenetic approach in pancreatic cancer (antiangiogenic therapies reduce the growth of new blood vessels needed by tumors to grow and metastasize). The article, entitled ‘Mast Cells Positive for c‐Kit Receptor and Tryptase Correlate with Angiogenesis in Cancerous and Adjacent Normal Pancreatic Tissue’, [1] is freely accessible online from the Cells journal site https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/10/2/444

This study examined mast cell activity through immunohistochemistry and image analysis, in a series of non-metastatic pancreatic cancer patients. Results showed that:

• Various markers of mast cell activity were increased in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma tissue as compared with adjacent normal tissue.
• Mast cells are strongly associated with angiogenesis in pancreatic cancer tissue.
• The density of mast cells positive for tryptase (MCDPT) and area of mast cells positive for tryptase (MCAPT) are tissue biomarkers that could be predictive of response to masitinib (anti‐c‐Kit therapy).

This research supports results from the confirmatory phase 3 study, AB12005, that evaluated masitinib at 6.0 mg/kg/day in combination with gemcitabine as a first-line treatment of unresectable locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer patients with pain; pain being hypothesized to be a marker of mast cell activation.