Onward and Biomunex agree deal to collaborate on cancer treatment

pharmafile | February 18, 2021 | News story | |   

Onward Therapeutics and Biomunex Pharmaceuticals have signed a co-development agreement of a bi-specific antibody for cancer patients.

Onward have agreed to pay Biomunex for development, regulatory and sales milestones, as well as tiered royalties on net sales. They will also make an equity investment in the company, while Onward CEO and Chairman Dr C Grace Yeh will sit on their board. The financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

Under the deal, Biomunex will be responsible for early preclinical development of the first-in-class antibody, while Onward will be responsible for the Investigational New Drug-enabling studies, as well as GMP manufacture, clinical development, and commercialisation.

The treatment, which is based on Biomunex’s BiXab platform, works by targeting two immune checkpoints, which are vital for regulation of the immune system.

Dr Grace Yeh said: “Based on our buy-and-build business model, this deal enables Onward to get a head start of developing an innovative bi-specific antibody in the field of immuno-oncology,”

“We saw a great opportunity to collaborate with an immunotherapy player who has an array of bi-specific and multi-specific antibody projects built from their BiXAb technology platform. The two companies having complementary expertise, we believe that this synergy has the potential to further our partnership in developing other antibody immuno-therapeutics.”

Dr Pierre-Emmanuel Gerard, Founder and CEO of Biomunex said: “This demonstrates the value of our disruptive BiXAb technology to rapidly and efficiently generate new drugs in immuno-oncology, bringing new hope for cancer patients.”

Jack Goddard

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