Hydrogel confinement enables subcutaneous delivery of vesicant antibody-drug conjugates
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) deliver cytotoxic payloads to tumors with antibody selectivity, yet all approved ADCs are administered by intravenous (IV) infusion despite a strong patient and clinical preference for subcutaneous (SC) delivery. SC administration would reduce treatment burden, but many ADC payloads are vesicants that cause tissue necrosis upon local release, a liability amplified, not mitigated, by the dispersion-enhancing excipients used for SC antibody formulations. We developed an injectable diacetyl-L-tartaric anhydride-functionalized chitosan hydrogel (TACT) that addresses this conflict by confining ADCs within a protective SC depot. TACT is compatible with clinically approved ADC formulations without drug-product modification and provides drug-to-antibody ratio (DAR)-dependent release kinetics that support a quantitative relationship with in vivo absorption timing. In direct comparison, recombinant human hyaluronidase (rHuPH20) co-formulated with vesicant ADCs caused severe tissue necrosis, whereas TACT prevented macroscopic injury while preserving antitumor efficacy comparable to intravenous dosing. TUNEL staining of injection sites showed that TACT attenuated peri-depot apoptotic injury 3-fold relative to T-DM1 alone and 2-fold relative to rHuPH20 co-formulation. In non-human primates, SC TACT achieved 78% relative bioavailability for total trastuzumab, reduced peak circulating T-DM1 catabolite (free DM1) exposure 7.6-fold compared to IV administration and produced only transient, self-resolving cutaneous reactions. These results identify depot-mediated confinement as a viable alternative to excipient-mediated dispersion for SC delivery of vesicant ADCs, demonstrated here for trastuzumab-based conjugates across two approved ADC drug products (T-DM1 and T-DXd, with non-cleavable MCC and cleavable peptide linkers), with supporting validation in a custom cleavable monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE) series. Additional validation with enfortumab vedotin (EV), a Nectin-4-targeting MMAE ADC, supported the applicability of this strategy beyond trastuzumab-based conjugates.
Authors: Guillaume Jacquot, Capucine Hervy, Elies Belarouci, Adeline Gasser, Chawin Hoernel, Olga Traissard, María Gutiérrez-Blanco, Julien Draussin, Stéphane Erb, Susana Brun, Lyne Fellmann, Joris Mallard, Elyse Hucteau, Pierre Coliat, Stéphane Bernhard, Mark W Tibbitt, Jérôme Combet, Julien Graff, Maria Cristina Antal, Alain Carvalho, Laurent David, Céline Mirjolet, Sarah Cianferani, François Lux, Olivier Tillement, Sébastien Harlepp, Coralie Grange, Xavier Pivot, Alexandre Detappe
Institutions: La Ligue Contre le Cancer, Institut Strauss, Lyon 1 Université, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut Lumière Matière, Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, Proteomics French Infrastructure Core, Université de Strasbourg, Mitochondrie, stress oxydant et protection musculaire, ETH Zurich, Institut Charles Sadron, Ingenierie des Materiaux polymeres, Université Jean Monnet, Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon, Université Jean Monnet, Inserm, Centre Georges François Leclerc, Centre de recherche Translationnelle en Médecine moléculaire, Université Bourgogne Europe, Institut Universitaire de France, Université Paris-Saclay
Language: English
Subfield: Pharmaceutical Science
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7162340180