ADAM9

Class

ADAM9-directed antibody-drug conjugate

Pathway

antibody binds ADAM9, a metalloprotease overexpressed on multiple solid tumors, delivering a cytotoxic payload upon internalization

ADAM9 is a member of the ADAM (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase) family of cell-surface enzymes that normally help cut, or 'shed,' the outer portions of other membrane proteins, a process involved in cell signaling, adhesion, and tissue remodeling. In many solid tumors, ADAM9 sits on the cell surface at much higher levels than in most healthy tissue, which makes it useful less as an enzyme to block and more as a flag for locating tumor cells. The therapeutic approach here is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC): an antibody recognizes ADAM9 on the tumor cell, the complex is drawn inside the cell, and intracellular processing releases a cytotoxic payload that destroys the cell from within. The goal is to concentrate a potent cell-killing agent selectively where ADAM9 is overexpressed, reducing exposure of normal tissue relative to conventional chemotherapy given systemically. Because elevated ADAM9 expression appears across multiple solid tumor types rather than being tied to one specific driver mutation, this mechanism is being explored as a delivery strategy with potential relevance across several cancers that share this surface marker, rather than as a treatment defined by a single tumor type or genetic alteration.