바이오스펙테이터

by Sungmin Kim

CStone Pharmaceuticals announced October 29th, a licensing agreement with LegoChem Biosciences for the development and commercialization of LCB71, a potential first-in-class/best-in-class antibody drug conjugate (ADC).

Under the agreement, CStone obtains the exclusive global right to lead development and commercialization of LCB71 outside the Republic of Korea. LCB will receive an upfront payment of US$10 million, and up to US$353.5 million in milestone payments, plus tiered royalties.

LCB71 is a pre-clinical ADC entering into Investigational New Drug (IND) enabling studies. It targets ROR1 (receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 1), a high-potential ADC target for multiple solid and hematological malignancies. ROR1 protein expression is prevalent in a variety of cancers including various forms of leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and breast, lung, and ovarian cancers.

LCB71 has a proprietary tumor-activated pyrrolobenzodiazepine (PBD) prodrug toxin that addresses the typical toxicity problem associated with traditional PBD payloads. It has demonstrated complete tumor inhibition across several preclinical cancer models, which may translate into a wide therapeutic index for a range of solid and hematologic malignancies. Additionally, it utilizes site-specific conjugation for a precise drug antibody ratio. This supports serum half-life and improves its pharmacokinetic profile, and also enables homogeneous production and large-scale manufacturing.

Meanwhile, LegoChemBio has been co-developing ROR1 ADC with ABLBio since 2016, and has combined ABL Bio's antibody platform with LegoChemBio's ADC technology. Under the contract, all licence fee will be distributed to LegoChemBio and ABLBio based on the ratio negotiated in advance. In addition, they will continue to cooperate to develop next-generation ADC projects.

Frank Jiang, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CStone, said “We are very pleased to form this partnership with LCB, a leading ADC platform company, to obtain global rights to an asset with highly differentiated attributes in an exciting new field of oncology. The agreement adds the first ADC to CStone’s development pipeline, and bolsters our precision medicine franchise with a new modality. We look forward to harnessing its full potential and bringing it to patients around the world.”

Dr. Yong-Zu Kim, CEO and President of LCB, said “We are pleased to have reached this agreement with CStone, which has demonstrated extensive oncology expertise, especially in global clinical development. This partnership puts LCB71 on a path to development and commercialization for patients worldwide. We are convinced that CStone is the right partner to secure the future of this important drug.”