EpimAb Biotherapeutics and Innovent Biologics Team Up

EpimAb Biotherapeutics, an emerging Shanghai-based biopharmaceutical company specializing in bispecific antibodies, and Innovent Biologics, one of the leading biopharmaceutical companies in China, have formed a multiple target agreement for the development of bispecific antibodies.

Innovent will gain access to EpimAb’s proprietary Fabs-In-Tandem Immunoglobulin (FIT-Ig) platform to develop multiple bispecific antibodies for the Chinese market, including the right to out-license the developed programs outside of China. In return for commercialization rights to these molecules in China, EpimAb is eligible to receive an upfront payment and total milestones of up to $120 million, plus royalties. In the event Innovent licenses the rights of the developed candidates outside of China, EpimAb will receive an undisclosed share of the net receipts.

“We are very pleased to have gained Innovent as our first licensee,” said Chengbin Wu, chief executive officer and founder, EpimAb. “Innovent’s world class R&D and biologics CMC capabilities are perfectly suited to develop novel FIT-Ig bispecific antibodies. We believe that our proprietary FIT-Ig bispecific antibodies technology is a unique approach to the bispecifics space. Together with multiple partners, we will increase the variety of FIT-Ig molecules and advance them through the clinic to create novel treatments for severe human diseases.”

The innovative FIT-Ig technology offers a novel approach for generating bispecific antibodies, whereby the bispecifics fully retain the biological properties of their parental monoclonal antibodies without the need to significantly modify the basic structural elements of the bispecific antibody.

FIT-Ig molecules generated to date have demonstrated not only excellent biological and pharmacological characteristics, but also great physical-chemical properties.

“We are delighted to work with EpimAb as their first partner for this exciting technology. We have known Dr. Chengbin Wu for a long time and think that the FIT-Ig technology will fit nicely in our bispecific discovery platform,” said Michael Yu, chief executive officer and co-founder, Innovent. “In addition to the bispecific deal that Innovent entered into with Eli Lilly last year, this will allow us to further expand our efforts.”