Systimmune Inc. and Bristol Myers Squibb Co. have joined hands in a co-development deal for bispecific antibody drug conjugate (ADC) BL-B01D1 in a deal worth up to $8.4 billion. The deal falls on the heels of BMS acquiring Mirati Therapeutics in October 2023 for $4.8 billion to add to its oncology pipeline.
Samsung Bioepis Co. Ltd. will partner with South Korean biotech Intocell Inc. to develop antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) drugs, continuing the Samsung Group and the wider industry’s hunt for novel ADCs. Under the joint research agreement inked on Dec. 5, the Daejon-based ADC platform technology firm Intocell will supply the Songdo, Incheon-based Samsung Bioepis its linker technology, coined OHPAS, or ortho-hydroxy protected aryl sulfate, upon which Samsung Bioepis will develop ADC drugs for up to five cancer targets.
Buying out Immunogen Inc. in a whopper cash deal valued at about $10.1 billion, Abbvie Inc. has major plans for an expanded label on the antibody-drug conjugate Elahere (mirvetuximab soravtansine-gynx), already approved for treating platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.
Another collaboration between two biopharmaceutical companies in the Asia-Pacific region is adding fuel to an already heated fire for antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) development worldwide. Suzhou, China-headquartered Genequantum Healthcare Co. Ltd. and South Korea’s Aimedbio Inc. recently announced extending an existing partnership to jointly develop five ADC investigative drugs.
Drawn to the potential for improved selectivity and safety profiles of PARP-1-specific inhibitors over their first-generation counterparts, Merck KGaA signed an exclusive, worldwide license deal with Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. worth up to €1.4 billion (US$1.5 billion) to gain access to the latter’s next-generation poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP)-1 inhibitor, HRS-1167.
GSK plc is the latest pharma giant to bite the “magic bullet” of antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) drugs, promising to pay the Chinese immunotherapy developer Hansoh Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. $85 million up front and over $1.4 billion in milestone payments in a licensing deal for HS-20089.
Deals involving antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) therapies continue to gain momentum with Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. and Merck & Co. Inc. the latest firms to team up on global development and commercialization activities, as Daiichi offers up rights to three of its potentially first-in-class ADC candidates for $22 billion, making it the largest ADC agreement to date.
A new deal between privately held Hummingbird Bioscience Pte. Ltd. and Endeavor Biomedicines Inc. is just one of three antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) agreements reached in the past week, marking a fourth-quarter surge for the therapy. Endeavor has acquired the exclusive, worldwide rights to Hummingbird’s HMBD-501, a HER3-targeted ADC with an exatecan payload. Hummingbird could receive up-front and milestone payments of up to $430 million, along with royalties from net sales.
In its first significant partnering deal since being founded in 2020, Medilink Therapeutics Co. Ltd. licensed exclusive global rights to an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting HER3 to Biontech SE in exchange for an up-front payment of $70 million, with the possibility for additional payments tied to development, regulatory and commercial milestones exceeding $1 billion. Medilink retains rights in mainland China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Macau Special Administrative Region.
The Samsung Life Science Fund made its fourth equity investment into a South Korean antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) developer, Aimedbio Inc., to round out its investment portfolio padded with three other firms, including Jaguar Gene Therapy LLC, Senda Biosciences Inc. and Araris Biotech AG.