Elpiscience Biopharma Ltd. is out-licensing to Astellas Pharma Inc. two preclinical bispecific macrophage engagers – ES-019, an anti-PD-L1/SIRPα bispecific antibody, and another unnamed program – in a deal worth up to $1.7 billion. The deal marks the Shanghai-based company’s first out-licensing deal, Elpiscience CEO Darren Ji told BioWorld, noting that Astellas will have global rights to both molecules with a potential to in-license two more.
Nearly two years after Novartis AG signed a $1.7 billion deal for options to Voyager Therapeutics Inc.’s adeno-associated virus capsids for central nervous system disorders, the Basel, Switzerland-based company secured rights to develop gene therapies for Huntington’s disease and spinal muscular atrophy in a licensing agreement potentially worth $1.3 billion.
South Korean biotech Pinotbio Co. Ltd. inked a $250 million (₩320 billion) licensing deal with Princeton, N.J.-based Conjugatebio Inc. to develop 10 antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targets with Pinotbio’s ADC platform technology. The deal announced on Dec. 21 adds to a previous agreement between the two companies last year. Pinotbio and Conjugate first teamed up to discover and develop five ADC targets in June 2022.
Voyager Therapeutics Inc. has entered into a strategic collaboration and capsid license agreement with Novartis Pharma AG, a subsidiary of Novartis AG, to advance potential gene therapies for Huntington’s disease and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).
Elpiscience Biopharma Ltd. is out-licensing to Astellas Pharma Inc. two preclinical bispecific macrophage engagers – ES-019, an anti-PD-L1/SIRPα bispecific antibody, and another unnamed program – in a deal worth up to $1.7 billion. The deal marks the Shanghai-based company’s first out-licensing deal, Elpiscience CEO Darren Ji told BioWorld, noting that Astellas will have global rights to both molecules with a potential to in-license two more.
Pluri Inc. has signed an agreement assigning the joint patent rights to develop its PLX cells for the treatment of cocaine addiction to BIRAD-Research & Development Company Ltd., the commercial arm of Bar-Ilan University.
Replay Holdings LLC has entered into an exclusive, worldwide license agreement with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for intellectual property related to a library of T-cell receptors (TCRs) directed against multiple cancer neoantigens.
Gilead Sciences Inc. has signed an agreement with Compugen Ltd. to exclusively license Compugen’s preclinical antibody program against IL-18 binding protein, including the COM-503 drug candidate. COM-503 is a high affinity antibody which blocks the interaction between IL-18 binding protein and IL-18, thereby inhibiting cancer growth.
Limmatech Biologics AG and Abvacc Inc. have entered into a license agreement that grants Limmatech the exclusive rights to further develop Abvacc’s multivalent toxoid vaccine candidate, LBT-SA7 (formerly IBT-V02), designed to prevent infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus.
Replay Holdings LLC and Miltenyi Biotec BV & Co. KG have announced a licensing and manufacturing agreement to support the development of a GMP-compliant T-cell receptor (TCR) natural killer (NK) cell therapy targeting the tumor-associated neoantigen, PRAME.