The antibody drug conjugate (ADC) dealmaking trend has seen yet another example as Adcendo has signed a licencing agreement potentially worth over $1bn with China-based Multitude for its tissue factor-targeting ADC candidate.

The Danish company will acquire the global rights for the development and commercialisation rights for ADCE-T02, except in the Greater China region, including mainland China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region, and Taiwan.

The companies were light on financial details noting that upfront and milestone payments will “total over $1bn”. The deal also has the option for “single digit to low double digit” tiered royalties.

“We are highly impressed by the deep science behind Multitude Therapeutics’ linker/payload platforms and are delighted about our licensing agreement on ADCE-T02, which perfectly complements our existing unique first-in-class ADC pipeline and allows Adcendo to become a clinical-stage biotech company in Q4 2024,” said Adcendo CEO, Michael Pehl.

“The highly differentiated profile of ADCE-T02 will enable a full capture of the potential of this target and will hopefully bring tangible progress to cancer patients in need.”

ADCE-T02 has a topoisomerase I inhibitor-based linker/payload with “highly differentiated” tissue factor- targeting. The therapy is a preclinical candidate, with a Phase I trial expected to start in Australia in Q4 this year. The companies are also planning trials in the US and Europe.

Adcendo is flush with cash as it raised €82m ($89.6m) in Series A to fund its ADC pipeline. The company’s other ADC focus is uPARAP, a collagen scavenger receptor. The company also signed a licencing agreement with Duality Biologics to access the latter’s Duality Immune Toxin Antibody Conjugates (DITAC) linker/payload platform for its lead uPARAP-ADC mesenchymal cancers programme, in January.

ADCs have been an area of interest in recent months, and there have been multiple high profile deals. In January, Roche signed a global partnership and licence deal with Medilink Therapeutics for its ADC, YL211, against solid tumours. The deal is expected to be worth over $1bn in potential milestone payments.

In December 2023, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine (J&J) acquired development and commercialisation rights to South Korean LegoChem Biosciences’ ADC candidate LCB84. The company will potentially pay up to $1.7bn in upfront and milestone payments.

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