ADC Therapeutics SA and Biocytogen Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. announced that they had signed an assessment and option agreement. With the opportunity to eventually license specific antibodies for worldwide ADC research and commercialization, Biocytogen will provide ADC Therapeutics a license to test its proprietary antibodies against three tumor targets. Beyond ADC development, Biocytogen retains full global rights to these antibodies. An advance payment will be sent to Biocytogen. The option-exercise fee, development, and commercial milestone payments, which may reach tens of millions of dollars in the US, as well as low-single-digit royalties on net sales, will all be due to Biocytogen for each exercised option.
ADC Therapeutics will receive monoclonal and/or biparatopic antibodies produced by Biocytogen’s Project Integrum that are directed against three tumor targets as part of the arrangement. If the firm exercises an option, ADC Therapeutics will conduct feasibility studies and be in charge of the future development and marketing of ADC products.
“ADC Therapeutics is a leader in the development and commercialization of ADCs. We believe this collaboration with ADC Therapeutics will underscore the value of Biocytogen’s proprietary antibody discovery and screening platforms. We’ve been dedicated to expanding the possibilities of antibody-based therapeutics in disease treatment, through the exploration of new types of targets and modalities through Project Integrum. The combination of Biocytogen’s strength in antibody development with ADC Therapeutics’ expertise and track record in payload and linker technology may lead to the generation of novel ADC medicines for unmet medical needs in the future.”
Dr. Yuelei Shen, President, and CEO of Biocytogen
According to Patrick van Berkel, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of ADC Therapeutics, “We are happy to engage this relationship with Biocytogen as we continue broadening our toolset to achieve the full potential of our ADC platform.” We are eager to assess the completely human antibodies found on Biocytogen’s unique discovery platform since they might hasten the development of our innovative ADCs.
About Biocytogen
Biocytogen is a global biotechnology company leading the research and development of novel antibody-based therapies. Using its RenMab TM /RenLite® mouse platforms to develop fully humanized monoclonal and bispecific antibodies, Biocytogen has combined in vivo discovery platforms and robust clinical development capabilities to streamline the entire drug discovery process. Biocytogen is conducting a major project to develop first-class and/or advanced vaccines for more than 100 targets, known as Project Integrum. The program resulted in 28 drug development agreements and 16 RenMice TM licensing agreements with companies worldwide, including several partnerships with multinational pharmaceutical companies (MNCs). The company’s pipeline includes 12 products, among which two products are in phase II multi-regional clinical trials and two products are in phase I. Headquartered in Beijing, Biocytogen has subsidiaries in Haimen Jiangsu, Shanghai, Boston, USA, and Heidelberg, Germany.
About ADC Therapeutics
ADC Therapeutics is a commercial-stage biotechnology company improving the lives of those affected by cancer with its next-generation, targeted antibody medicines. The Company is developing its PBD-based ADC technology to change the treatment paradigm for patients with hematologic malignancies and solid tumors.
ADC Therapeutics’ CD19-targeting ADC ZYNLONTA is FDA approved for the treatment of relapsed or refractory diffuse large b-cell lymphoma after two or more lines of systemic therapy. ZYNLONTA is also being developed with other agents. In addition to ZYNLONTA, ADC Therapeutics has several ADCs in ongoing clinical and preclinical development.