Preclinical and clinical development of inotuzumab-ozogamicin in hematological malignancies

Calicheamicin is a DNA-damaging agent that, following intracellular activation, binds to DNA in the minor groove and introduces double-strand DNA breaks, leading to G2/M arrest and subsequent cell death. Importantly, the mechanism of action of calicheamicin is fundamentally different from the tubulin-binding class of cytotoxics targeting the mitotic spindle, which represent the most common class of payloads for antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs)...