Immunoconjugates with an intracellularly-cleavable linkage

1. A method comprising administering to a subject, wherein the subject has a malignancy, a therapeutically effective amount of an immunoconjugate comprising:

(a) an antibody or antigen-binding antibody fragment;

(b) a chemotherapeutic moiety; and

(c) a linker comprising (i) a thiol-reactive functional group that binds to a thiol group on the antibody, and (ii) a water-solubilizing moiety selected from the group consisting of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), triethylenetetraminehexaacetic acid (TTHA), benzyl-DTPA, 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-N,N′,N″,N″′-tetraacetic acid (DOTA), benzyl-DOTA, 1,4,7-triazacyclononane-N,N′,N″-triacetic acid (NOTA), benzyl-NOTA, 1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane-1,4,8,11-tetraacetic acid (TETA) and N,N′-dialkyl substituted piperazine,

wherein the chemotherapeutic moiety is attached to the linker via an intracellularly-cleavable moiety that is cleavable by intracellular esterases and comprises an ester formed from the α-carboxylic acid of an amino acid, and said thiol-reactive functional group is a maleimide or vinylsulfone which links to thiol groups of said antibody.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said malignancy is a malignant solid tumor or hematopoietic neoplasm.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said immunoconjugate is administered parenterally.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said antibody binds to an antigen selected from the group consisting of a B-cell lineage antigen, a T-cell antigen, a myeloid lineage antigen and a HLA-DR antigen.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said antibody binds to an antigen selected from the group consisting of CD74, CD22, epithelial glycoprotein-1, MUC1, PAM4-binding antigen, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), colon-specific antigen-p, alpha-fetoprotein, prostate-specific membrane antigen, carbonic anhydrase IX, HER-2/neu, BrE3 antigen, CD19, CD20, CD21, CD23, CD33, CD45, CD74, CD80, VEGF, EGF receptor, P1GF, MUC2, MUC3, MUC4, gangliosides, HCG, EGP-2, CD37, HLA-DR, CD30, Ia, A3, A33 antigen, Ep-CAM, KS-1, Le(y), S100, PSA, tenascin, folate receptor, Thomas-Friedreich antigens, tumor necrosis antigens, tumor angiogenesis antigens, Ga 733, IL-2, IL-6, T101, MAGE, CD66a (BGP), CD66b (CGM6) CD66c (NCA), CD66d (CGM1), TAC and combinations thereof.

6. The immunoconjugate according to claim 1 , wherein said antibody is a chimeric, humanized or human monoclonal antibody.

7. A method of delivering a chemotherapeutic moiety to a subject wherein the subject has a malignancy, comprising administering to a subject a therapeutically effective amount of an immunoconjugate comprising:

(a) an antibody or antigen-binding antibody fragment;

(b) a chemotherapeutic moiety; and

(c) a linker comprising (i) a thiol-reactive functional group that binds to a thiol group on the antibody, and (ii) a water-solubilizing moiety selected from the group consisting of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), triethylenetetraminehexaacetic acid (TTHA), benzyl-DTPA, 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-N,N′,N″,N″′-tetraacetic acid (DOTA), benzyl-DOTA, 1,4,7triazacyclononane-N,N′,N″-triacetic acid (NOTA), benzyl-NOTA, 1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane-1,4,8,11-tetraacetic acid (TETA) and N,N′-dialkyl substituted piperazine,

wherein the chemotherapeutic moiety is attached to the linker via an intracellularly-cleavable moiety that is cleavable by intracellular esterases and comprises an ester formed from the α-carboxylic acid of an ammo acid, and said thiol-reactive functional group is a maleimide or vinylsulfone which links to thiol groups of said antibody.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein said chemotherapeutic moiety is selected from the group consisting of doxorubicin (DOX), epirubicin, morpholinodoxorubicin (morpholino-DOX), cyanomorpholino-doxorubicin (cyanomorpholino-DOX), 2-pyrrolino-doxorubicin (2-PDOX), CPT, CPT-11, SN-38, topotecan, taxanes, geldanamycin, ansamycins, and epothilones.

9. The method according to claim 7 , wherein said antibody is a chimeric, humanized or human monoclonal antibody.

10. The method according to claim 7 , wherein said antibody is multivalent and/or multispecific.

11. The method according to claim 7 , wherein said antibody fragment is selected from the group consisting of a Fab, a Fab′, an F(ab) 2 , an F(ab′) 2 and an scFv fragment.

12. The method according to claim 7 , wherein said antibody is reactive with an antigen or epitope of an antigen expressed on a cancer or malignant cell.

13. The method according to claim 12 , wherein said cancer cell is a cell from a hematopoietic tumor, carcinoma, sarcoma, melanoma or a glial tumor.

14. The method according to claim 12 , wherein said antibody binds to an antigen selected from the group consisting of a B-cell lineage antigen, a T-cell antigen, a myeloid lineage antigen and an HLA-DR antigen.

15. The method according to claim 12 , wherein said antibody binds to an antigen selected from the group consisting of CD74, CD22, epithelial glycoprotein-1, MUC1, PAM4-binding antigen, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA or CD66e), colon-specific antigen-p, alpha-fetoprotein, prostate-specific membrane antigen, carbonic anhydrase IX, HER-2/neu, BrE3 antigen, CD19, CD20, CD21, CD23, CD33, CD45, CD74, CD80, VEGF, EGF receptor, P1GF, MUC2, MUC3, MUC4, gangliosides, HCG, EGP-2, CD37, HLA-DR, CD30, Ia, A3, A33 antigen, Ep-CAM, KS-1, Le(y), S100, PSA, tenascin, folate receptor, Thomas-Friedreich antigens, tumor necrosis antigens, tumor angiogenesis antigens, Ga 733, IL-2, IL-6, T101, MAGE, an antigen that binds to CD66a (BGP), CD66b (CGM6) CD66c (NCA), CD66d (CGM1) and TAC.

16. A method of delivering a chemotherapeutic moiety to a subject, wherein the subject has a malignancy, comprising administering to a subject a therapeutically effective amount of an immunoconjugate comprising:

(a) an antibody or antigen-binding antibody fragment;

(b) a water soluble chemotherapeutic moiety; and

(c) a linker comprising a thiol-reactive functional group that binds to a thiol group on the antibody; wherein said chemotherapeutic moiety is attached to said linker via an intracellularly-cleavable moiety that is cleavable by intracellular esterases and comprises an ester formed from the α-carboxylic acid of an amino acid, and said linker contains an α-amino acid and is of the formula:

 wherein R is an amino acid side chain, said amino acid selected from the group consisting of glycine, alanine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, proline, serine, threonine, cysteine, methionine, asparagine, glutamine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan, lysine, arginine, histidine, aspartic acid and glutamic acid; and wherein X is a chemotherapeutic moiety.

17. A method of delivering a chemotherapeutic moiety to a subject, wherein the subject has a malignancy, comprising administering to a subject a therapeutically effective amount of an immunoconjugate comprising:

(a) an antibody or antigen-binding antibody fragment;

(b) a chemotherapeutic moiety; and

(c) a linker comprising (i) a thiol-reactive functional group that binds to a thiol group on the antibody, and (ii) a water-solubilizing moiety selected from the group consisting of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), triethylenetetraminehexaacetic acid (TTHA), benzyl-DTPA, 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-N,N′,N″,N″′-tetraacetic acid (DOTA), benzyl-DOTA, 1,4,7-triazacyclononane-N,N′,N″-triacetic acid (NOTA), benzyl-NOTA, 1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane-1,4,8,11-tetraacetic acid (TETA) and N,N′-dialkyl substituted piperazine;

wherein said chemotherapeutic moiety is attached to said linker via an intracellularly-cleavable moiety that is cleavable by intracellular esterases and comprises an ester formed from the α-carboxylic acid of an amino acid; and said linker comprises a peptide comprising a thiol-reactive moiety at its N-terminus for linkage to the antibody and one or more side chain amino groups for linkage to at least one chemotherapeutic moiety.