CStone and LegoChem Biosciences Enter Global Licensing Agreement for New Antibody Drug Conjugate

CStone Pharmaceuticals announced a licensing agreement with LegoChem Biosciences, Inc. for the development and commercialization of LCB71, a potential first-in-class/best-in-class antibody drug conjugate.

Under the agreement, CStone obtains the exclusive global right to lead development and commercialization of LCB71 outside the Republic of Korea. LCB will receive an upfront payment of US$10 million, and up to US$353.5 million in cumulative milestone payments, plus tiered royalties.

Frank Jiang, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CStone, said: “We are very pleased to form this partnership with LCB, a leading ADC platform company, to obtain global rights to an asset with highly differentiated attributes in an exciting new field of oncology. The agreement adds the first ADC to CStone’s development pipeline, and bolsters our precision medicine franchise with a new modality. We look forward to harnessing its full potential and bringing it to patients around the world.”

LCB71 is a pre-clinical ADC entering into Investigational New Drug (“IND”) enabling studies. It targets ROR1 (receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 1), a high-potential ADC target for multiple solid and hematological malignancies. ROR1 protein expression is prevalent in a variety of cancers including various forms of leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and breast, lung, and ovarian cancers.

LCB71 has a proprietary tumor-activated pyrrolobenzodiazepine (“PBD”) prodrug toxin that addresses the typical toxicity problem associated with traditional PBD payloads. It has demonstrated complete tumor inhibition across several preclinical cancer models, which may translate into a wide therapeutic index for a range of solid and hematologic malignancies. Additionally, it utilizes site-specific conjugation for a precise drug antibody ratio. This supports serum half-life and improves its pharmacokinetic profile, and also enables homogeneous production and large-scale manufacturing.

Dr. Yong-Zu Kim, CEO and President of LCB, said: “We are pleased to have reached this agreement with CStone, which has demonstrated extensive oncology expertise, especially in global clinical development. This partnership puts LCB71 on a path to development and commercialization for patients worldwide. We are convinced that CStone is the right partner to secure the future of this important drug.”