CytomX preps 'probodies' for an invasion, partnerships

CytomX CEO Sean McCarthy.

If antibody-drug conjugates lead the next war against disease-fighting therapies, CytomX Therapeutics Inc. is readying fresh recruits. Antibody-drug conjugates use antibodies, the Y-shaped proteins that direct the immune system toward a foreign invader, to carry a payload of toxic drugs. But CytomX is developing what it calls “probodies,” which it says are that much more highly targeted in delivering their tumor cell-killing packages.