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In the first big announcement from this year’s JPM Healthcare conference, AbbVie has joined the ranks of companies developing cancer drugs that target both PD-1 and VEGF – one of the hottest drug classes in oncology – after signing a $5.6 billion licensing deal with China’s RemeGen.
The licensing agreement, which includes a big upfront payment of $650 million and milestone payments of up to $4.95 billion, gives AbbVie ex-China rights to RC148, a PD-1xVEGF bispecific currently in a series of clinical trials across multiple solid tumour types.
China has become a pioneer in the PD-1 and VEGF area, and international pharma groups have been snapping up rights to the country’s most advanced candidates in a series of large-scale transactions over the last few years.
AbbVie’s move comes after Pfizer pledged up to $6 billion for a candidate developed by 3SBio (SSGJ-707) last year, while MSD licensed LaNova Medicines‘ LM-299 for up to $3.3 billion in 2023. Other deals include Summit Pharma’s $5 billion play for Akeso‘s ivonescimab in 2022, and BioNTech’s acquisition of Biotheus and its bispecific BNT327, which was a real bargain at just $950 million for the whole company – given that BioNTech subsequently licensed the drug out to Bristol Myers Squibb for up to $11 billion.
Interest in the class has been fuelled by data on ivonescimab showing it was more effective at extending survival in PD-L1-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) than MSD’s $30 billion PD-1 inhibitor blockbuster Keytruda (pembrolizumab) – at least in a Chinese population – although results were less impressive in international patients and an attempt to file for approval in the US has faced pushback from the FDA.
In a statement, AbbVie said RC148, which is being developed by RemeGen as a monotherapy and in combination with other drugs, could complement cancer drugs in its pipeline, such as telisotuzumab adizutecan (Temab-A), an antibody-drug conjugate targeting c-Met, which is being tested in various solid tumours, including NSCLC and colorectal cancer.
“By combining the immune checkpoint inhibition and anti-angiogenic activity of RC148 together with the targeted cytotoxic activity of ADCs, we have the potential to identify meaningful options for patients,” commented Daejin Abidoye, who leads AbbVie’s R&D in solid tumours and haematological cancers.
The royalty-bearing license gives AbbVie exclusive rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialise RC148 outside of the Greater China territory.
The FDA granted RemeGen approval to start a phase 2 trial of RC148 in multiple solid tumours last August. It is being tested in China in phase 1/2 studies and has been awarded a breakthrough designation from the National Medical Products Association (NMPA) for use in combination with docetaxel as a second-line therapy for NSCLC.
Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
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