UCB has entered the red-hot T-cell engager (TCE) space by paying $80 million for the rights to a Chinese biotech’s preclinical autoimmune candidate.
At the center of the deal is ATG-201, a CD19/CD3 bispecific TCE that Shanghai-based Antengene has been lining up to enter phase 1 trials on both its home turf of China as well as in Australia before the end of the month. Under yesterday’s deal, Antengene will complete these first-in-human phase 1 studies before transferring ATG-201 across to UCB to take forward.
In return, Antengene will receive $80 million in upfront cash and near-term milestones, while being eligible for up to $1.1 billion in development and commercial milestones, as well as tiered royalties on sales should ATG-201 make it to market.
The licensing deal marks UCB’s first foray into TCEs, which activate a patient’s own T cells. The modality continues to be a hot area for dealmaking, with Astellas penning a $1.7 billion collaboration with Vir Biotechnology only last week for a prostate cancer TCE.
While many TCEs are being developed for cancer, some companies have been exploring their use against autoimmune conditions, including Harbour BioMed and Cullinan Therapeutics.
ATG-201 has been produced by Antengene’s AnTenGager platform, which the biotech has touted as offering a “differentiated TCE approach” of “2+1” bivalent binding for low-expressing targets. The company has already showcased preclinical data for ATG-201 that Antengene said demonstrated the potential for the asset’s bispecific interaction with T and B cells through CD3 and CD19 to treat B-cell-driven diseases.
UCB Chief Scientific Officer Alistair Henry said TCEs are “emerging as an exciting and potentially disruptive therapeutic modality for immunological diseases.”
“Access to Antengene’s cutting-edge T-cell engager platform technology enhances our ambition to lead in immunology,” Henry added. “It complements our expertise in monoclonal antibodies and novel biologics, demonstrates our inorganic innovation strategy in action, and brings transformational new capabilities that take UCB into the advancing field of bispecific T-cell engagers.”
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As UCB attempts to live up to its newfound reputation as a fledgling immunology powerhouse, the company is pouring $5 billion into a manufacturing expansion while scaling up partnerships with U.S.-based contract manufacturers to ensure the continued supply of its growth drivers.
Alongside this move, the Brussels-based company will soon launch its first ultrarare disease drug in the U.S. in the form of Kygevvi, a treatment for genetic mitochondrial disease thymidine kinase 2 deficiency that was approved last November.