UCB Regains Global Rights to Tau Antibody Bepranemab as Roche Exits Collaboration

▎Armstrong

On October 22, 2024, UCB announced that the phase 2a TOGETHER clinical data of Tau antibody Bepranemab for treating latent to mild Alzheimer's disease will be reported at this year's CTAD conference, which is scheduled from October 29 to November 1.

At the same time, UCB announced that its partner Genentech, a subsidiary of Roche, has returned the global rights of Bepranemab.

Bepranemab is a heavily humanized IgG4 subtype Tau antibody that specifically targets the middle region of tau (amino acids 235-250), near the microtubule-binding region (MTBR). Research suggests that, compared to antibodies targeting other regions of tau (e.g., the N-terminal), antibodies targeting the middle region may more effectively interfere with the intercellular transmission of pathogenic tau aggregates.

Summary

UCB has laid out a number of distinctive products in the antibody field. Apart from the Tau antibody that was returned this time, there is also Cimzia, the only PEGylated TNFα antibody, which is currently its best-selling innovative drug with annual sales of around 2 billion US dollars. Bimzelx is the world's first IL-17A/F antibody, with sales of 215 million euros in the first half of this year, showing rapid growth. Rystiggo is an FcRn antibody, with sales of 77 million euros in the first half of this year. Zilbrysq is a complement C5 macrocycle inhibitor that was launched in April this year, with first-quarter sales of 15 million euros.