One year after a potential $1.7 billion deal with Hansoh Pharma, GSK goes back to China to forge another alliance with DualityBio for another deal that could be worth up to $1 billion as it continues to build up its ADC portfolio.
GSK turns to China again for an antibody-drug conjugate, forging a pact with DualityBio that could be worth up to $1 billion. Following a deal with Hansoh Bio last December, GSK announced late Tuesday that it has purchased an exclusive option to license DB-1324, which the companies claim could be a best-in-class ADC against an undisclosed gastrointestinal (GI) cancer target.
GI cancer represents 35% of all cancer-related deaths, rendering effective treatments options a high, unmet need. DB-1324 is built on DualityBio’s Duality Immune Toxin Antibody Conjugate (DITAC) platform, which is touted by the biotech for having superior stability, sustained tumor selectivity and efficient bystander clearance compared to other ADCs.
GSK is paying $30 million upfront to Duality with another $975 on the line in fees and milestone payments. Tiered royalties will also be paid out, if approved, on global sales outside mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, while GSK will receive royalties on sales made inside those areas.
The London-based pharma isn’t DualityBio’s first big-name collab. The biotech is also partnered with BioNTech, BeiGene and Adcendo. In July, its ADC in development with BioNTech for prostate cancer received Fast Track designation from the FDA.
GSK has made its stake in the ADC game clear. “GSK has built a portfolio of novel antibody-drug conjugates underpinned by our deep expertise in tumour cell-targeting mechanisms,” Hesham Abdullah, GSK’s global head of oncology said in a statement.
This week’s deal with DualityBio dropped just one year after another big dollar China-based ADC deal from GSK. Last December, the Big Pharma inked a potential $1.7 billion deal with Hansoh Pharma for HS-20093, a B7-H3 targeting ADC in clinical trials for types of lung cancer and sarcoma. It was the second ADC collaboration with Hansoh, following a B7-H4–focused ADC meant to treat ovarian and endometrial cancer.
Wednesday morning just after the DualityBio announcement, GSK also shared an alliance with Rgenta Therapeutics to develop RNA-targeted small molecule splice modulators. The biotech received $46 million upfront from GSK, with another $500 million in potential payments on the line, plus royalties and future equity investment. The targets of the partnership were vague, listed only as “high-value targets” in “multiple disease ares including oncology.”
