Medilink Therapeutics, a Suzhou-based biopharmaceutical company, has entered into a global collaboration and licensing agreement with Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche concerning YL211, an antibody drug conjugate (ADC) targeting c-Mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor (c-MET) for the development of a treatment for solid tumors. This agreement marks Medilink’s fifth out-license deal for ADC candidate drugs with both domestic and international partners, and is the third deal valued at over USD 1 billion.
Roche (SWX: ROG) will assume global development, manufacturing, and commercialization rights for YL211, and the two companies will jointly advance the program into Phase I, with Roche taking the lead in development moving forward. As part of the agreement, Roche will pay Medilink USD 50 million in upfront and near-term milestone payments, and is committed to paying up to USD 1 billion in development, regulatory filing, and commercialization milestone payments, in addition to tiered royalties based on global annual net sales. YL211 is being prepared for an Investigational New Drug (IND) filing, following strong preclinical results demonstrating therapeutic efficacy and safety in early testing.
Medilink has solidified its position as one of China’s leading ADC developers, having previously licensed ADC drug candidates to Shanghai Henlius Biotech Co., Ltd (HKG: 2696), Zai Lab Ltd (HKG: 9688, NASDAQ: ZLAB), Germany’s BioNTech SE (NASDAQ: BNTX), and Seagen Inc., which is soon to be acquired by Pfizer (NYSE: PFE). Both the BioNTech and Seagen deals were also valued at around USD 1 billion in total deal commitments.- Flcube.com
