Ipsen is adding a second antibody-drug conjugate to its plate.
The French drugmaker said Thursday that it has inked a global licensing agreement for a preclinical ADC developed by Foreseen Biotechnology. The China-based biotech could get a total of up to $1.03 billion across upfront payments, milestones and tiered royalties on sales, according to a Thursday release.
In return, Ipsen will get exclusive global rights for the development, manufacturing and commercialization of Foreseen’s FS001 in solid tumors. Ipsen will take on preparations for a Phase 1 trial of the ADC, starting with filing an IND application.
FS001 targets a new, undisclosed tumor-associated antigen that was discovered using Foreseen’s screening platforms that use AI and translational proteomics, which is the study of proteins applied to drug development. The unnamed antigen is highly expressed in many solid tumors, according to the Ipsen release.
The Ipsen-Foreseen deal is the second of its kind that the Parisian drugmaker has inked so far this year. In April, Ipsen pledged $90 million in near-term payments to get exclusive rights to Sutro Biopharma’s preclinical ROR1-targeting ADC, which marked Ipsen’s first foray into the ADC arena.
At the time, Ipsen’s head of early development, Mary Jane Hinrichs, said in a release that “the potential for ADCs in oncology is well-documented.”
Last month, Ipsen also expanded its presence in oncology via a preexisting pact with Marengo Therapeutics to add two trispecific antibody drugs for tumors that are usually unresponsive to immunotherapy. The updated deal was worth up to $1.2 billion in upfront and milestone payments and also included royalties.
All three agreements are part of Ipsen’s broader efforts to build up a bigger pipeline in oncology, which is one of its three focus areas alongside rare diseases and neuroscience. Its drug Onivyde was approved in February for certain first-line pancreatic cancer patients.