Third Arc Bio is paying $5 million upfront to use Adagene’s tech in hopes of creating two new masked T-cell engagers.
Down the line, Adagene could make up to $840 million in development and commercial milestones from the licensing deal, plus royalties, according to a Nov. 13 release.
Third Arc will use Adagene’s precision antibody masking platform—dubbed Safebody—to create new CD3 T-cell engagers taking aim against tumor-associated antigens. The tech is designed to activate an antigen when it reaches the tumor microenvironment, improving safety and widening therapeutic index, Adagene CEO Peter Luo, Ph.D., said in the release.
Pennsylvania-based Third Arc will have the global rights to research, develop and market two candidates stemming from the deal. That being said, China- and U.S.-based Adagene will also have a no-cost option to develop and commercialize the molecules in certain areas of Asia.
“Our agreement with Adagene will allow Third Arc Bio to advance highly innovative molecules with a superior therapeutic index and help build on our growing portfolio of novel CD3- and CD28-targeting T-cell engagers,” Third Arc CEO Peter Lebowitz, M.D., Ph.D., said in the release.
The antibody-focused biotech’s lead program—coded ARC101—is a bispecific T-cell engager being tested out in a phase 1 trial for patients with solid tumors expressing CLDN6. The company touts its own drug development engine that is designed to generate best-in-class T-cell engagers.
Now, the company will work with Safebody—one of Adagene’s three platform sciences that helped create the biotech’s lead clinical program, known as ADG126 or muzastotug. The masked, anti-CTLA-4 candidate is currently being studied in phase 1b/2 and phase 2 clinical studies in combination with anti-PD-1 therapy for microsatellite stable colorectal cancer.
Adagene is no stranger to deals, with Big Pharma Sanofi partnering with the biotech for its masking technology. Just this July, Sanofi doubled down on its 2022 pact with Adagene, investing $25 million in the biotech, taking up its option on a third program and agreeing to sponsor a trial of its partner’s lead candidate.