Arrivent Biopharma Inc. and Jiangsu Alphamab Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. have signed a development deal that leverages Alphamab’s antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) research and discovery platform and could bring Alphamab up to $615.5 million.
Australian radiopharmaceutical company Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. announced its IPO on the Nasdaq to raise $200 million to advance its late-stage radiopharma candidates. Headquartered in Melbourne, Telix has operations in the U.S., Europe (Belgium and Switzerland) and Japan with an extensive pipeline of theranostic radiopharmaceutical candidates.
Abtis Co. Ltd., Dong-A ST’s newly incorporated subsidiary since December 2023, is making headway with its leading Claudin18.2-targeting antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) candidate, AT-211, according to Abtis CEO Taedong Han. “About 80% of gastric cancers do not have HER2 overexpression, but 77% overexpressed Claudin18.2,” Han told Bio Korea 2024 audience members on May 9, stressing that AT-211 was found to be highly potent against cancer cells expressing Claudin18.2 in ADC cell viability studies.
South Korea’s Genome & Co. Ltd. (KOSDAQ:314130) shares rose nearly 30% June 3 after it disclosed a potential ₩586.38 billion (US$426 million) licensing deal for its novel antibody-drug conjugate candidate with Switzerland’s Debiopharm International SA.
China’s Medilink Therapeutics (Suzhou) Co. Ltd. and Germany’s Biontech SE signed another potential $1 billion-plus deal for novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targets, building off the first ADC-based licensing deal from last year.
Miami-headquartered Summit Therapeutics Inc. expanded rights to Akeso Inc.’s non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) drug, ivonescimab (SMT-112; AK-112), June 3 while raising $200 million to advance the therapy.
While there was much talk about the vast potential of artificial intelligence (AI) during one of the world’s largest research cancer conferences, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) continued to grab the lion’s share of attention as Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. released new and positive data.
Although details are scant, Akeso Pharmaceuticals Inc. reported that its PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody, ivonescimab (AK-112), demonstrated statistically significant superiority as a first-line therapy for PD-L1-positive non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) compared to Merck and Co. Inc.’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab).
Cambridge, U.K.-based Astrazeneca plc is looking to Asia, specifically China and Singapore, to build an innovative cancer-focused pipeline filled with antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) and cell therapies.
Japanese industrial conglomerate Asahi Kasei Corp. has made an offer to acquire Swedish rare diseases specialist Calliditas Therapeutics AB for SEK11.8 billion (US$1.1 billion). The offer, at an 83% premium to the closing share price of SEK113.60 on Monday, May 27, is recommended by the three biggest shareholders and the board of Calliditas, which said the company would benefit from “being part of a larger platform.”