AbbVie cuts $1.9bn+ deal with IGI for trispecific antibody

AbbVie has agreed to pay $700 million upfront for rights to a drug developed by Ichnos Glenmark Innovation (IGI) with potential as a treatment for blood cancers and autoimmune disorders.

The deal – which could be worth up to $1.925 billion with milestones – is for ISB 2001, a trispecific antibody T-cell engager (TCE) that targets CD38, BCMA, and CD3 in one drug molecule.

The drug is in a phase 1 trial in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, said AbbVie. Data presented at this year's ASCO congress showed promising efficacy with an overall response rate (ORR) of 79% including a 30% high complete/stringent complete response (CR/sCR) rate – indicating a stringent level of remission – in a heavily-pretreated patient population.

It is the second licensing deal that AbbVie has negotiated this year for a trispecific for multiple myeloma, coming in the wake of a $1.05 billion deal with Simcere Zaiming for another early clinical-stage TCE called SIM0500 that targets GPRC5D, BCMA and CD3.

Meanwhile, AbbVie has also been developing a bispecific CD3 and BCMA-directed TCE, etentamig (ABBV-383), which derives a $90 million upfront deal with TeneoOne in 2021. Etentamig is now in phase 3 testing in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least three prior lines of therapy, as well as for immunoglobulin light chain amyloidosis.

At the moment, Johnson & Johnson is the major player in the TCE category with approvals in hand for BCMA-targeting Tecvayli (teclistamab) and GPRC5D drug Talvey (talquetamab), approved for multiple myeloma in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

Under the terms of the agreement with IGI – an alliance set up last year between Ichnos Sciences and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals – AbbVie will receive exclusive rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialise ISB 2001 across North America, Europe, Japan, and Greater China.

The trispecific was developed using IGI's BEAT protein engineering platform for the design and production of multispecific TCEs with improved 'druggability and developability'.

"Multispecifics including trispecific antibodies represent a new frontier in immuno-oncology with the potential to deliver deeper, more durable responses by engaging multiple targets simultaneously," commented Roopal Thakkar, AbbVie's chief scientific officer.

"This partnership with IGI reflects our unwavering commitment to advancing novel therapies for patients with multiple myeloma, a disease where significant unmet need remains despite recent progress."