BioNTech to pay $200M upfront in CTLA-4 antibody development, commercialization deal

20 Mar 2023
endpts.com
ImmunotherapyPhase 3Fast TrackAcquisitionLicense out/in
BioNTech is branching out into CTLA-4 as part of a deal with the crew behind OncoImmune. BioNTech and OncoC4 put out word Monday that they had reached an exclusive deal to co-develop and co-commercialize OncoC4’s monoclonal antibody candidate for a variety of cancer indications. The deal will see BioNTech paying OncoC4, a spinout of OncoImmune, $200 million upfront for ONC-392, OncoC4’s anti-CTLA-4 candidate — plus undisclosed milestone payments and tiered royalties. On top of that, the companies will jointly develop the drug and split development costs in several solid tumor indications. However, any combination with BioNTech pipeline products or with essentially any drug that doesn’t block PD-1 remain BioNTech’s sole responsibility. ONC-392 currently has fast-track designation from the FDA as a monotherapy in immunotherapy-resistant NSCLC. The deal is set to complete sometime in the next few months, the companies said — but closing conditions and regulatory clearances can still affect the process. OncoC4 co-founder, CEO and CSO Yang Liu was previously the co-founder and CEO of OncoImmune, a company that Merck paid $465 million cash to acquire back in 2020 after its lead product, CD24Fc, reduced the risk of respiratory failure or death in severe Covid-19 patients by 50% in a Phase III that enrolled more than 200 patients. That candidate was originally developed for graft-versus-host disease. While Merck acquired CD24Fc in its acquisition of OncoImmune, the rest of the company’s products were spun out into OncoC4, with Merck infusing $50 million into the company as a minority shareholder. Liu added to Endpoints News that BioNTech and OncoC4 knew each other previously due to their independent work in oncology, and they connected to form this deal at a satellite AACR meeting last year. “I was giving a keynote, and then a BioNTech BD person connected with us. So we’ve been discussing this for quite a while,” Liu said. As for the deal itself, the main focus is in NSCLC — specifically in patients in the second or third line setting after progressing on PD-1 based immunotherapy. Beyond that, another potential indication would include pediatric head and neck cancer.
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