In a big announcement from this year’s JPM week, AbbVie has joined the ranks of companies developing cancer drugs that target both PD-1 and VEGF – one of the hottest drug classes in oncology – after signing a $5.6 billion licensing deal with China firm RemeGen.
The licensing agreement, which includes a big upfront payment of $650 million and milestone payments of up to $4.95 billion, gives AbbVie ex-China rights to RC148, a PD-1xVEGF bispecific currently in a series of clinical trials across multiple solid tumour types.
China has become a pioneer in the PD-1 and VEGF area, and international pharma groups have been snapping up rights to the country’s most advanced candidates in a series of large-scale transactions over the last few years.
AbbVie’s move comes after Pfizer pledged up to $6 billion for a candidate developed by 3SBio (SSGJ-707) last year, while MSD licensed LaNova Medicines’ LM-299 for up to $3.3 billion in 2023. Other deals include Summit Pharma’s $5 billion play for Akeso’s ivonescimab in 2022, and BioNTech’s acquisition of Biotheus and its bispecific BNT327, which was a real bargain at just $950 million for the whole company – given that BioNTech subsequently licensed the drug out to Bristol Myers Squibb for up to $11 billion.
‘By combining the immune checkpoint inhibition and anti-angiogenic activity of RC148 together with the targeted cytotoxic activity of ADCs, we have the potential to identify meaningful options for patients,’ commented Daejin Abidoye, who leads AbbVie’s R&D in solid tumours and haematological cancers.
The royalty-bearing license gives AbbVie exclusive rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialise RC148 outside of the Greater China territory.
