Adagene-Sanofi collaboration to generate masked monoclonal, bispecific antibodies

KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 -- Adagene Inc (Adagene), a company transforming the discovery and development of antibody-based therapies, has announced a collaboration and exclusive licence agreement with Sanofi to generate masked monoclonal and bispecific antibodies for development and commercialisation by Sanofi.

Under terms of the agreement, Adagene will be responsible for early stage research activities to develop masked versions of Sanofi candidate antibodies, using Adagene’s SAFEbody technology. Sanofi will be solely responsible for later stage research and all clinical, product development and commercialisation activities.

Sanofi will make an upfront payment of US$17.5 million to Adagene and will have the ability to advance two initial Sanofi antibody candidates in the collaboration, followed by an option for two additional candidates. (US$1 = RM4.189)

Additionally, Adagene will be eligible to receive total potential development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments of up to US$2.5 billion for advancement of the candidates, which will be exclusively developed and commercialised by Sanofi. Adagene is eligible to also receive tiered royalties on global net sales of approved collaboration products.

“We are excited to work with Sanofi and unlock the potential of multiple promising yet challenging immuno-oncology targets by applying our SAFEbody precision masking technology, which is validated by extensive preclinical research as well as clinical data from our ADG126 anti-CTLA-4 program,” said Peter Luo, Ph.D., Co-founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of Adagene, in a statement.

“We are at the forefront of pushing the boundaries of antibody discovery and engineering by leveraging our AI-powered technology platform. This enables dynamic and precise target engagement by our antibody-based therapeutics, which are tailor-made to overcome the fundamental challenges in oncology drug development today.”

Sanofi Global Head of Oncology Research, Valeria Fantin added: “Committed to chasing the miracles of science, we look forward to working with Adagene to design antibodies that can help us deliver on our mission to bring transformative new medicines to people living with cancer.”

In addition to ongoing collaborations, Adagene is building a deep, broad and differentiated pipeline of transformative antibody-based therapeutics.

For more information, visit https://investor.adagene.com.

-- BERNAMA