Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)

The deal gets NextCure the rights to Simcere’s novel ADC for solid tumors outside of China.
At the heart of the deal is an anti-Claudin18.2 antibody-drug conjugate being developed for solid tumors, including gastric cancer and pancreatic cancer.
Patritumab deruxtecan was unable to significantly improve overall survival in patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer with EGFR mutations.
AbbVie’s Emrelis is the first non-small cell lung cancer therapy approved for patients with high c-Met expression levels who have received prior lines of treatment.
Keytruda is set to lose exclusivity in 2028, meaning Summit may face competition from cheaper biosimilars. Meanwhile, other branded drugmakers are also seeking to improve on the blockbuster checkpoint inhibitor.
IPO
The deal is a blast from the not-too-distant past, when special purpose acquisition companies were an easy way for companies to list on the public market with a bundle of cash to operate on.
AbbVie claims that Genmab turned a blind eye to trade secret theft allegedly used to support the development of ProfoundBio’s investigational antibody-drug conjugates. Genmab acquired ProfoundBio in May 2024.
Roche’s up to $1 billion investment will provide access to Oxford BioTherapeutics’ antibody-drug conjugate platform for undisclosed cancer targets.
Japan-based Taiho Pharmaceutical has worked with Araris Biotech since 2023 developing antibody-drug conjugates for the oncology space.
The approval for the first-line treatment of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma comes shortly after a label expansion for the drug in gastric and gastroesophageal cancers as BeiGene also pushes forward a pipeline of novel cancer therapies.
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