Kowa’s Novel Antibody-Drug Conjugate, K-679, Shows Promising Results in EGFR-Expressing Solid Tumors

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faf958b7f59dc8e4af466f4abf3405e9 1 K-679: A Novel Antibody Drug-loaded Unimicelle Conjugate with Ultra-High Drug Loading Capacity Demonstrates Superior Efficacy in EGFR-Expressing Solid Tumors

NAGOYA, Japan, April 21, 2025 — Kowa Company, Ltd., located in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, announced today that it will present non-clinical data for K-679, its new antibody drug-loaded unimicelle conjugate (ADUC) with exceptional drug loading capacity. The compound, created using Kowa’s unique micelle technology, has shown greater efficacy in EGFR-expressing solid tumors compared to traditional antibody drug conjugates (ADCs). The data will be presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2025, which will be held in Chicago, Illinois from April 25th to 30th, 2025.

Kowa Company, Ltd.

Presentation Details
Presentation Title: K-679: A novel, ultra-high-DAR antibody drug-loaded unimicelle conjugate (ADUC) enabling more effective treatment in EGFR-expressing solid tumors compared to general ADCs.
Session Title: Novel Drug Delivery Technologies
Presentation Date and Time: April 28, 2025, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. CST (10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. ET)
Published Abstract Number: 1798
Presenter: Hideo Yoshida

The abstract of the presentation is available at
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More information about the AACR Annual Meeting 2025 can be found on the event website at the following link:

About K-679
K-679 is an Antibody Drug-loaded Unimicelle Conjugate (ADUC), a novel type of ADC utilizing Kowa’s exclusive micelle technology, and is currently in the non-clinical stage. The conjugate combines an anti-EGFR antibody with unimicelles loaded with the drug (DM1), incorporating significant quantities of payloads into a single-chain polymer. This innovative method achieves an ultra-high DAR (Drug-to-Antibody Ratio) of approximately 40 DM1 molecules per antibody, considerably higher than conventional ADCs.

Non-clinical studies have demonstrated that K-679 exhibits potent anti-tumor effects in xenograft models, surpassing the performance of traditional ADCs. Notably, K-679 has displayed remarkable efficacy in both EGFR‑positive and -negative heterogeneous tumors, showing substantial bystander killing effects.

Media Contact:
Ian Mehr
Kowa Research Institute, Inc.
919-433-1600

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