Bexmarilimab Activates Human Tumor-Associated Macrophages to Support Adaptive Immune Responses in Interferon-Poor Immune Microenvironments

Abstract

Immune checkpoint inhibitors show substantially greater efficacy in inflamed tumors characterized by pre-existing T cell infiltration and interferon (IFN) signaling than in non-inflamed, “cold”, tumors, which often remain immunotherapy resistant. The cancer immunotherapy bexmarilimab, which inhibits the scavenger receptor Clever-1 to release macrophage immunosuppression and activate adaptive immunity, has shown treatment benefit in subsets of patients with advanced solid malignancies. However, the mechanisms that determine bexmarilimab therapy outcome in individual patients are unknown. Here we characterized bexmarilimab response in ovarian cancer ascites macrophages ex vivo using single-cell RNA-sequencing and demonstrated increased IFN signaling and CXCL10 secretion following bexmarilimab treatment. We further showed that bexmarilimab was most efficacious in macrophages with low baseline IFN signaling, as chronic IFNγ priming abolished bexmarilimab-induced TNFα release. These results highlight an approach to target immunologically cold tumors and to increase the likelihood of their subsequent response to immune checkpoint inhibitors.