HS-20093

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Eucure Biopharma, under which GSK acquires the rights to develop and commercialize the ADC drug DB-1324 globally, excluding mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau. The total amount of the deal reaches an impressive $1.005 billion. DB-1324, an innovative ADC molecule developed based on Eucure Biopharma's DITAC platform, is currently in the preclinical stage and is expected to be used for treating gastrointestinal cancers. GSK will pay a $30 million upfront fee and up to $975 million in additional payments upon reaching specific milestones. Additionally, GSK will pay tiered royalties based on global net sales. This transaction is significant for GSK's strategic layout in the ADC field and further proves the international recognition of Chinese biopharmaceutical companies in ADC R&D. It is noteworthy that GSK’s other ADC drug, Blenrep, received breakthrough therapy designation and accelerated approval from the FDA but was withdrawn from the U.S. market in December 2022 due to disappointing clinical trial results. Despite setbacks in the U.S. market, GSK has not abandoned its efforts in other regions and is exploring new clinical trial data to hopefully re-enter the market. In June 2024, GSK announced the results of the DREAMM-7 and DREAMM-8 Phase III trials at the ASCO conference, showing that Blenrep combination therapy significantly extended patients' progression-free survival and reduced the risk of disease progression or death. These positive trial results prompted GSK to resubmit its application for Blenrep's market approval. In addition to Blenrep, GSK's ADC portfolio includes several other drugs. For instance, XMT-2056 is currently in clinical research, while HS-20089 and HS-20093, developed in collaboration with Hanmi Pharmaceutical, are also undergoing clinical trials. These collaborations and positive clinical trial results not only strengthen GSK's ADC product line in cancer treatment but also indicate a favorable position in market competition. Through these efforts, GSK aims to achieve greater breakthroughs in cancer treatment and provide patients with more treatment options.

GSK is returning to China for another antibody-drug conjugate deal, and it’s tapping into a company that already has alliances with BioNTech , Adcendo and others . The UK pharma is allying itself with Duality Biologics in a deal worth $30 million upfront and up to $975 million in biobucks. That gets GSK access to a preclinical-stage ADC for an undisclosed gastrointestinal cancer target, the companies said Tuesday evening. DualityBio, a five-year-old Shanghai and Suzhou biotech, filed to go public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in August. At the time, it said its partnerships had more than $4 billion in total deal value. That potential has now eclipsed $5 billion thanks to the collaboration with GSK. GSK went to China for two ADC deals in the fall of 2023, both of them with Hansoh Pharma. The deals centered around HS-20093 , which nabbed an FDA breakthrough therapy tag in relapsed or refractory extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer this summer, and HS-20089 , a B7-H4-targeted ADC. With DualityBio, GSK gets the exclusive worldwide option to DB-1324, save for mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. GSK already makes the ADC Blenrep, which has had a checkered history . The drugmaker also has multiple additional experimental candidates in various stages of clinical testing. It’s one of dozens of drugmakers developing ADCs, with nearly every large pharma inking licensing deals or acquisitions in the space in the past few years. The most recent was Gilead, which earlier this week forged an up to $415 million deal for a solid tumor ADC out of Munich-based Tubulis. Multiple deals have involved biotechs based in China, including Avenzo Therapeutics and Shanghai-based VelaVigo last month. “Given the unique ability of ADCs to address certain targets on tumour cells while sparing healthy ones,” GSK’s global head of oncology R&D Hesham Abdullah said in a statement, “we are confident in our strategic focus on this modality as it could advance new therapeutic treatments for the most challenging tumour types.” Editor’s note: This story was updated to correct which ADC got the breakthrough therapy designation.