Pilatus Biosciences, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel metabolic checkpoint immunotherapies for liver and gastrointestinal cancers, today announced that the first patient has been dosed in Hong Kong, in the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) biomarker backfill cohort of its ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of PLT012.
The dosing follows authorization from the Hong Kong Department of Health in July 2026 to conduct the PLT012 clinical study in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong site, based at the Phase I Clinical Trial Centre under the Department of Clinical Oncology of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, will support the HCC backfill and dose expansion cohorts as part of the broader PLT012 Phase 1 study.
The backfill cohorts are intended to evaluate preliminary clinical activity and generate biomarker data in patients with advanced HCC, including those with underlying liver dysfunction. By integrating clinical outcomes with biomarker findings from this cohort, the study aims to further inform PLT012’s future clinical development and support a deeper understanding of its potential role across the liver disease continuum, from chronic liver dysfunction to malignancy.
PLT012 is a first-in-class investigational monoclonal antibody targeting CD36, a key regulator of lipid metabolism within the tumor microenvironment. By blocking CD36-mediated lipid uptake, PLT012 is designed to reprogram the tumor microenvironment by reducing immunosuppressive cell populations while restoring the activity of antitumor immune cells.
