Federal Grant Award Summary

The University of Texas at Austin received a $668,878 Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute under the Cancer Treatment Research program (CFDA 93.395) on April 3, 2026, with a completion date of March 31, 2031. This award supports the development of a novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) therapeutic platform targeting CD44 variant 9 (CD44V9) for advanced and treatment-resistant breast cancer. The research aims to overcome current limitations in ADC-based therapies by developing conditionally-active antibodies with enhanced selectivity for tumor microenvironments and employing advanced drug conjugation methods utilizing cyclic peptides with tumor-penetrating capabilities and neutrophil-elastase resistant linkers to improve drug delivery while minimizing off-target toxicities.

The grant funds fundamental and applied research in the discovery and development of improved cancer treatment methods. The deliverables include the development of engineered antibodies optimized for CD44V9 targeting, preclinical evaluation of the ADC platform's efficacy in killing aggressive breast cancer cells, and the establishment of technical advances that address two critical challenges limiting current ADC adoption: treatment-associated toxicities and poor tumor penetration. This research addresses a significant clinical need for therapeutic options for patients with triple-negative and hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancers who have relapsed or progressed after standard ADC treatments, with particular relevance to the over 50 percent of breast cancers that are HER2-low and CD44V9-positive.