LegoChem aims to fast-track Elthera's antibody as 2nd independent ADC

LegoChem Biosciences said on Monday that it signed a license agreement with Elthera, a Swiss biotechnology company, to develop and commercialize a novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) therapy using Elthera’s monoclonal antibody.

The licensed asset is a monoclonal antibody with a target expressed in a variety of solid tumors including pancreatic, ovarian, breast, lung, and colorectal cancer.

Based on the agreement, LegoChem will be responsible for the future development and commercialization of any products incorporating this antibody, including ADC applications. 

Elthera will receive an upfront payment, progress-dependent development, regulatory milestone payments, cumulative commercial milestone payments, and royalties on net product sales.

Citing trade confidentiality reasons, specific figures for these payments were not disclosed.

LegoChem said that they will quickly begin preparing for IND and clinical development using the antibody. 

Currently, the same target ADC that has entered the clinical stage is unknown, so it can be developed as a first-in-class anticancer drug. 

For LegoChem, it will be the fifth ADC clinical candidate to apply its proprietary ADC technology.

“We are very pleased to enter into this license agreement with LegoChem, a global ADC company with industry-leading ADC technology,” said Elthera CEO Anne Schmidt. “The combination with LegoChem’s ConjuAll technology generates a well-differentiated first-in-class ADC with a wide therapeutic window that has the potential to provide new treatment options for a large number of solid tumors.”

“We are pleased to enter this agreement with Elthera as we continue to expand our toolbox to maximize the value of our ADC platform,” said LegoChem Biosciences CEO Kim Yong-zu. “We look forward to bringing this innovative ADC drug into the clinic as LegoChemBio's second independent  candidate after TROP2-ADC, which is currently in development."