Corbus Pharmaceuticals has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with CSPC Megalith Biopharmaceutical, a subsidiary of CSPC Pharmaceutical Group, for development and commercialization of CRB-701 (SYS6002); a novel clinical stage antibody drug conjugate (ADC) targeting Nectin-4.
The agreement covers exclusive commercialization rights to CRB-701 in the United States, Canada, the European Union (including the European Free Trade Area), the United Kingdom, and Australia. CSPC will retain all rights to SYS6002 in the remaining global markets.
The IND for CRB-701 has been cleared by the US FDA. CRB-701 is currently being investigated by CSPC in a Phase 1 dose escalation clinical trial in advanced solid tumors in China. Corbus is planning to bridge data from this Phase 1 trial to support a US clinical trial starting in 2024. Corbus and CSPC will work collaboratively to execute the clinical development of CRB-701 with Corbus responsible for the clinical development in the US and other licensed territories.
“This agreement adds a promising clinical-stage asset with a validated mechanism of action to our pipeline and reinforces the evolution of Corbus into a precision oncology company. We will leverage the R&D infrastructure that we have established for our TGFβ modulator (CRB-601) to also enhance our understanding of Nectin-4,” said Yuval Cohen, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Corbus.
CSPC will receive an upfront payment of $7.5 million. CSPC will also be eligible to receive royalties on net sales and up to $130 million in potential development and regulatory milestone payments and $555 million in potential commercial milestone payments.
“CRB-701 has several key features that support a differentiated profile,” said Rachael Brake, Ph.D., chief scientific officer of Corbus. “These include site specific conjugation chemistry that leads to low payload release in plasma, a novel Fc-enabled antibody with an improved pharmacokinetic profile and toxicology data that suggests that there is an ability to achieve higher exposures with CRB-701. We look forward to working with CSPC to advance clinical development of this asset and realize its full potential.”
“This partnership with Corbus, is an example of our focused effort to bring our innovative pipeline overseas to help patients battling cancer. We look forward to collaborating with Corbus with the goal of developing this ADC as a potentially impactful treatment option to patients in need,” said Zhang Cuilong, Chief Executive Officer of CSPC.
