At a time when much of the biopharma space can’t seem to get enough of antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), Bristol Myers Squibb Co. is backing away from a potential $3 billion-plus collaboration with Eisai Co. Ltd., handing back full rights to the latter’s folate receptor alpha-targeting ADC, farletuzumab ecteribulin (FZEC), citing a portfolio reprioritization.
Partners Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. and Merck & Co. Inc. received a complete response letter (CRL) from the U.S. FDA for their first-in-class HER3-directed antibody-drug conjugate HER3-DXd (patritumab deruxtecan) to treat patients with locally advanced or metastatic EGFR-mutated non-small-cell lung cancer.
The annual Companies to Watch report, which was just released, looks closely at seven companies flying under the radar that are developing antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for treating cancer. Companies examined in the new report are Adcendo ApS, Araris Biotech AG, Go Therapeutics Inc., Heidelberg Pharma AG, Pheon Therapeutics Ltd., Tallac Therapeutics Inc. and Tubulis GmbH.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Antibody-drug conjugates are the hot spot for deals in Asia, but investors questioned whether oncology is really the place to be, during the Asia Bio Partnering Forum in Singapore April 24 to 25.