Boehringer Ingelheim has returned to China to satisfy its appetite for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and T-cell engagers (TCEs).
In April, Paola Casarosa, Ph.D., who oversees the German pharma’s innovation unit, name-checked ADCs and TCEs as a “key focus” for the company.
“We still believe ADCs are an exciting modality,” Casarosa told Fierce at the time. “We'll continue to also look into [next]-generation payloads and new mechanisms of connecting those to the antibodies.”
Boehringer appears to be doubling down on this strategy. On Wednesday, the company announced it would pay $358 million upfront to Sino Biopharmaceutical for a six-program option and license agreement, spanning both preclinical ADCs and TCEs. Five of these programs come from Sino’s LaNova Medicines subsidiary, with one originating from its Beijing Tide Pharmaceutical unit.
The deal terms involve Sino overseeing early development of these assets toward agreed clinical milestones, after which point Boehringer has the option to cough up more money to license the therapies. The German drugmaker will have the chance to buy the worldwide rights for two of the drugs, and the ex-China rights for the other four.
In return, Sino could receive up to $7 billion in a combination of option-exercise fees and milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties if any of the six programs makes it to market.
Boehringer has an existing oncology partnership with Sino, which operates globally under the SBP Group brand. The German drugmaker has been established in China’s biopharma scene courtesy of its External Innovation Hub in Shanghai.
“Our second partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim marks an important milestone in SBP Group’s international innovation strategy and further validates our scientific capabilities in next-generation oncology,” SBP Chairwoman Theresa Tse said in the release.
“By combining our innovative platforms and early-development capabilities with Boehringer Ingelheim’s global oncology expertise, we aim to maximize the potential of these programs and bring innovative treatment options to patients worldwide,” Tse added. “We will continue to expand our global partner network and contribute high-quality innovation from China to global healthcare.”
Boehringer’s Casarosa said the partnership will combine the companies’ complementary scientific expertise to expand its pipeline of ADCs and TCEs.
“It puts our China strategy into action by connecting innovation from China with our global research and development capabilities,” Casarosa added in today's release. “Together, we aim to accelerate promising therapeutic approaches and create new treatment possibilities for people living with difficult-to-treat cancers worldwide.”
Boehringer has certainly been making good on its interest in cutting-edge cancer therapies. Its DLL3/CD3 T-cell engager obrixtamig is already undergoing phase 3 trials for small-cell lung cancer and extrapulmonary neuroendocrine carcinoma.
When it comes to ADCs, the Big Pharma struck a deal worth up to $991 million to license a candidate from South Korea's AimedBio last year. The company also committed around $31 million to a new R&D facility in Switzerland specifically focused on ADC development.
The growing role of China as a source of biopharma innovation is one of the hot topics being discussed at Fierce Biotech's high-impact event in London this month. Find out more information and register by clicking on the banner below:
