BeiGene has acquired an exclusive option for a global licence to one of DualityBio’s investigational, preclinical antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) for solid tumours.

Though few details of the agreement were disclosed, it has been confirmed that DualityBio will receive undisclosed upfront payments from BeiGene and will be eligible to receive certain development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments totalling up to $1.3bn.

ADCs are a class of cancer therapies that combine the selectivity of antibodies with the potent cell-killing properties of chemotherapy or other anti-cancer agents.

Unlike chemotherapy, which works by attacking lots of different cells as well as the cancer, ADCs are designed to target and kill tumour cells while sparing healthy cells.

BeiGene’s global head of research and development, Lai Wang, said: “Through this strategic partnership with DualityBio, we are well positioned to advance this asset globally alongside our initial internally discovered ADC assets with our end-to-end ADC manufacturing capabilities.”

Upon exercising its option, BeiGene will hold global clinical, manufacturing, and commercial rights for the candidate, while DualityBio will continue preclinical research activities and support Investigational New Drug filing.

DualityBio’s chief executive officer, John Zhu, said: “We are excited to partner with BeiGene to accelerate the development of this asset. In combining the strengths of BeiGene and Duality, we believe more breakthrough ADC medicines will be brought to patients worldwide.”

In total, DualityBio has advanced four assets into global clinical studies and developed more than ten product candidates that are currently in the preclinical stage.

In April, the company granted BioNTech the rights to co-develop and commercialise two of its ADC candidates for solid tumours.

The deal, worth over $1.5bn, gives BioNTech access to DualityBio’s lead candidate, DB-1303, which targets HER2-expressing solid tumours. DB-1303 has already received Fast Track designation from the US Food and Drug Administration and is currently in a phase 2 clinical trial.

The second ADC candidate, DB-1311, is yet to enter human studies but has demonstrated ‘potent antitumour activity in a range of tumour models representing multiple cancer types and has been well tolerated in preclinical studies’, the companies said.

Source: pmlive.com