PinotBio is partnering with Switzerland-based Alentis Therapeutics to jointly develop next-generation antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).
PinotBio said on the 14th that it had signed a research collaboration and license agreement with Alentis Therapeutics to discover and develop next-generation ADCs. Under the agreement, Alentis secured an exclusive option to license PinotBio's novel linker and payload technology for use with its own drug candidates.
PinotBio will receive an upfront payment, milestone payments tied to development, regulatory approval and commercialization, and royalties based on net sales of any candidates that emerge from the partnership. The companies did not disclose the financial terms.
The two companies plan to develop an ADC cancer therapy targeting claudin-1, a protein overexpressed in more than 10 types of cancer that is regarded as a key target for next-generation cancer drugs. Using PinotBio's linker and payload technology, the partners aim to develop treatments that address drug resistance and toxicity, long seen as limitations of existing ADCs.
"This expanded collaboration builds on joint research in which we explored dozens of ADC constructs together," Alentis Chief Executive Officer Marc Pruzanski said. "Together with PinotBio, we will further broaden the therapeutic potential of claudin-1 and maximize patient benefit across a range of cancers with high unmet need."
"We are pleased to expand our collaboration with Alentis," PinotBio CEO Chung Doo-young said. "This expansion is an important milestone for PinotBio and once again validates the competitiveness of our ADC platform."
Founded in 2017, PinotBio develops ADCs and targeted cancer therapies and built its reputation through its partnership with Celltrion (068270). The company is co-developing drug candidates including CT-P70, CT-P71 and CT-P73 with Celltrion, applying its proprietary ADC platform.