Chong Kun Dang acquires Synaffix's ADC platform

Chong Kun Dang, a Korean drugmaker, said it would start developing new anticancer drugs by acquiring antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology from Synaffix, a Dutch firm.

The licensing-in deal follows Chong Kun Dang's joint research with Synaffix to discover competitive ADCs since 2019.

The size of the deal is approximately $132 million, including the upfront payment, development, licensing, and sales milestones.

Under the agreement, Chong Kun Dang will secure the right to use Synaffix's three ADC platform technologies, GlycoConnect, HydraSpace, and toxSYN, and start developing ADC anticancer drugs in earnest.

According to Chong Kun Dang, Synaffix's ADC platform is a next-generation technology that can realize site-specific conjugation by conjugating an exact number of drugs to an antibody at a precise location.

Chong Kun Dang said while other technologies require antibody modification when using as an ADC, Synaffix's technology can apply previously discovered antibodies as ADCs without modification.

As a result, the technology enables safe and efficient production without toxicity and has superior efficacy compared to existing ADCs, the company said. 

"Chong Kun Dang is building expertise and know-how through the development of various anticancer drugs, including the small cell lung cancer drug Camptobell and anticancer dual antibody bio-drug CKD-702," Chong Kun-dang CEO Kim Young-joo said.

Synaffix CEO Peter van de Sande also said, "We are pleased that Synaffix's novel ADC technology is included in the pipeline of Chong Kun Dang, which has excellent capabilities in the field of anticancer drugs."