[Courtesy of Legochem]
SEOUL -- LegoChem Biosciences, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company in South Korea, has secured a license and option agreement with Sotio Biotech, a Czech biotechnology company that will obtain rights to deploy antibody drug conjugate technology for up to five therapeutic programs targeting distinct tumor-associated antigens.
Antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) are an important class of highly potent biopharmaceutical drugs designed as a targeted therapy for the treatment of people with cancer. The platform is intended to kill only cancer cells and spare healthy cells. LegoChem Biosciences' proprietary platform enables the design of homogeneous plasma stable ADCs with the potential for improved payload delivery to cancer cells.
The deal enables Sotio to combine its proprietary antibodies with LegoChem Biosciences' ADC technology platform to deliver novel therapeutics for the treatment of solid tumors.
LegoChem Biosciences (LCB) is eligible to receive upfront and potential milestone payments worth up to $1.03 billion, which is payable based on certain developments and regulatory achievements, plus royalties on net sales. The deal includes upfront and near-term milestones worth up to $29.5 million.
Sotio is responsible for the research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of ADC products, while LCB will work for research activities and the manufacturing of components that are specifically related to its proprietary ConjuAll and the linker-payload technologies.
LCB said it can focus on developing its own pipelines and securing partnerships with global pharmaceutical companies. "This collaboration is yet another example that illustrates how the value proposition of the LCB platform can increase the competitive position of our partners within the ADC space," LCB CEO Kim Yong-zu said in a statement posted on November 17.
Sotio, which focused on the clinical-stage research and development of innovative medicines for cancer, is testing multiple oncology products at different stages of clinical development. "The licensing agreement with our new, experienced partner LegoChem allows us to broaden our oncology pipeline with additional programs and solid tumor targets," said Sotio CEO Radek Spisek.
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