Chinese Biotech Duality Bio Secures $1B ADC Deal with GSK Amid Hong Kong IPO Filing

GSK Sets Sights on China Again with Potential $1 Billion Deal, Expanding ADC Portfolio

December 4,DualityBio Announces ADC Drug (DB-1324) Collaboration with GSK, reaching an exclusive licensing agreement. According to the agreement, GSK will obtain the global exclusive rights (excluding mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macao) for the development and commercialization of this ADC drug.

According to the terms of the agreement,GSK to pay $30 million upfrontAnd other milestone payments before exercising the option to obtain an exclusive authorization license to advance the research, development, and commercialization of DB-1324 worldwide (excluding mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macao).If GSK exercises the license, DualityBio will charge an exercise fee and subsequent milestone payments at different stages of development, regulatory registration, and commercialization.Up to $975 million.Upfront payment plus subsequent milestone payments, royalties, etc.,The above transaction potentialExceeding the total amount$1 billion (approximately RMB7.3 billion yuan）。

DB-1324, which was not previously disclosed, is part of the transaction with GSK.DB-1324 is an innovative ADC molecule developed based on Duality Bio's proprietary and clinically validated Duality Immune Toxin Antibody Conjugates (DITAC) platform.The drug is still in the preclinical development stage, and its research direction may focus on gastrointestinal cancers.。

According to the press release, the ADC drug has the potential to be used in combination with multiple GSK oncology products, thereby strategically complementing GSK's oncology portfolio.

This is not the first product pipeline sold by Yingen Bio.Previously, Duality Bio has reached multiple licensing-out cooperation agreements. In 2023, Duality Bio consecutively completed four BD deals for ADC drugs., The authorized parties are respectivelyBioNTech and BeiGene。

It is worth mentioning that,At the end of August this year, Mapping Biotech just submitted to the Hong Kong Stock ExchangeIPO Application。

DualityBio is a company established in 2019, which owns12 ADC Pipelines, six of which have entered the clinical stage, with the first product expected to be submitted to the FDA for accelerated approval in 2025.

Pipeline of Duality Bio Source: Duality Bio Official Website

DualityBio submitted its prospectus for a Hong Kong IPO in August this year.The prospectus shows that, through collaborations with major pharmaceutical companies such as BioNTech (for DB-1303, DB-1311, and DB-1305), Adcendo (for its ADC assets targeting specific antigens using our payload-linker), BeiGene (for DB-1312), Sinotau Pharmaceuticals, and Harbour BioMed, YingBio has secured substantial upfront payments along with continuous milestone payments. The total value of these deals exceeds $4 billion (including upfront and subsequent milestone payments).

Founder Zhongyuan Zhu has over 20 years of experience in biotechnology entrepreneurship and venture capital, and has also participated in the incubation processes of companies such as CStone Pharmaceuticals, RemeGen, Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals, and BGI Genomics. Additionally, with shareholders like Eli Lilly, WuXi Biologics, and 6 Dimensions Capital, the industry paid significant attention to Duality Biologics' IPO in Hong Kong.

After submitting the IPO application at the end of August, Mapping Biosciences has continued to make moves. Before announcing this product licensing to GSK, it further deepened its partnership with a company at the end of November.Adcendo ApS, an innovative drug company developing the world's first ADC therapyThe strategic cooperation will leverage MapR Biotech's innovative ADC platform technology to develop more ADC drugs for the company.

As of the end of the first quarter of 2024, the cash and cash equivalents of DualityBio reached 1.33 billion yuan. Meanwhile, BeiGene, known as the "leading innovator in the pharmaceutical industry," held approximately 2.618 billion yuan in cash at the end of the first half of 2024.Duality Biologics, despite being only five years old and without any commercialized products, has already reached half of BeiGene's cash balance solely through financing and BD revenue, showcasing its formidable strength.

The second half of 2023,GSK has successively introduced two antibody-drug conjugates from Hansoh Pharma, The combined amount involved in the two collaborations is as high as$3.28 billion, including a down payment of 270 million US dollars.

In October 2023, GSK and HansohHS-20089An agreement has been reached. HS-20089 is a B7-H4-targeted ADC currently undergoing Phase II clinical trials in China. HS-20089Ovarian Cancer and Endometrial CancerIt has the potential to be the best-in-class in this aspect and also has opportunities in other solid tumors.

December 2023,GSK and HansohHS-20093Reach an agreement toGrant GSK an exclusive global license (excluding mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan regions) for development, production, and commercialization.Developed by Hansoh PharmaHS-20093。HS-20093 is currently undergoing Phase I and Phase II trials in China.

Two deals give GSK two clinical-stage ADCs, which complements GSK's existing capabilities and strengths in drug development to address unmet medical needs across various solid tumors.

This time, GSK once again seeks antibody-drug conjugates in China., and reached a deal worth up to 1 billion US dollars with DualityBio for the exclusive license of DB-1324. Both companies claimedDB-1324 May Be a First-in-Class ADC Targeting an Undisclosed Gastrointestinal (GI) Cancer Target。

Gastrointestinal cancers account for 35% of all cancer-related deaths, making effective treatment options a highly unmet need. DB-1324 is built on ImmuneOnco's Dual Immunotoxin Antibody-Drug Conjugate (DITAC) platform, which the biotech company praises for its superior stability, sustained tumor selectivity, and efficient bystander clearance compared to other ADCs.

Despite no products having been commercialized yet, DualityBio, a Biotech company founded just five years ago, is gaining significant attention from investors amid the current enthusiasm for ADC drugs.The repeated success of BD transactions is inseparable from the contributions of multinational pharmaceutical companies.Antibody-Drug ConjugatesThe热烈追捧.

Until now，Anti-Body-conjugated drugsIt can already be said to be a pipeline that multinational pharmaceutical companies must stockpile.。As the ADC drug market continues to expand, other pharmaceutical companies布局ADC will also have more BD financing and cooperation opportunities, with huge potential for future development.