Prelude Therapeutics and AbCellera Enter Partnership to Develop First-in-Class Precision Antibody Drug Conjugates in Oncology

Prelude Therapeutics Incorporated and AbCellera announced a multi-year, multi-program partnership to discover, develop, and commercialize potentially first-in-class treatments for patients with cancer. The collaboration combines Prelude’s expertise in targeted protein degradation, medicinal chemistry, and clinical development with AbCellera’s antibody discovery and development engine to generate novel precision antibody drug conjugates (ADCs). The first program, which benefits from a lead panel of antibodies previously discovered by AbCellera, is focused on ADCs to broaden the reach of Prelude’s small molecule SMARCA2 selective degraders to address a larger patient population.

“By leveraging our combined capabilities and expertise in rapidly discovering and advancing novel candidates into the clinic, this collaboration provides an opportunity to build a pipeline of first-in-class ADCs targeting clinically validated pathways in oncology,” said Kris Vaddi, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Prelude.

“Through this strategic partnership we are combining deep expertise in antibody and small molecule development to create precision ADC therapies for patients in need,” said Carl Hansen, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of AbCellera.

Under the terms of the agreement, Prelude and AbCellera will jointly discover, develop, and commercialize products emerging from the collaboration. AbCellera will lead manufacturing activities and Prelude will lead clinical development and global commercialization, subject to AbCellera’s option to co-promote any resulting commercial products in the United States.