JPM: AbbVie pays $650m upfront for RemeGen cancer drug

In the first big announcement from this year's JPM Healthcare conference, AbbVie has joined the ranks of companies developing cancer drugs that target both PD-1 and VEGF – one of the hottest drug classes in oncology – after signing a $5.6 billion licensing deal with China's RemeGen.

The licensing agreement, which includes a big upfront payment of $650 million and milestone payments of up to $4.95 billion, gives AbbVie ex-China rights to RC148, a PD-1xVEGF bispecific currently in a series of clinical trials across multiple solid tumour types.

China has become a pioneer in the PD-1 and VEGF area, and international pharma groups have been snapping up rights to the country's most advanced candidates in a series of large-scale transactions over the last few years.

AbbVie's move comes after Pfizer pledged up to $6 billion for a candidate developed by 3SBio (SSGJ-707) last year, while MSD licensed LaNova Medicines' LM-299 for up to $3.3 billion in 2023. Other deals include Summit Pharma's $5 billion play for Akeso's ivonescimab in 2022, and BioNTech's acquisition of Biotheus and its bispecific BNT327, which was a real bargain at just $950 million for the whole company – given that BioNTech subsequently licensed the drug out to Bristol Myers Squibb for up to $11 billion.

Interest in the class has been fuelled by data on ivonescimab showing it was more effective at extending survival in PD-L1-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) than MSD's $30 billion PD-1 inhibitor blockbuster Keytruda (pembrolizumab) – at least in a Chinese population – although results were less impressive in international patients and an attempt to file for approval in the US has faced pushback from the FDA.

In a statement, AbbVie said RC148, which is being developed by RemeGen as a monotherapy and in combination with other drugs, could complement cancer drugs in its pipeline, such as telisotuzumab adizutecan (Temab-A), an antibody-drug conjugate targeting c-Met, which is being tested in various solid tumours, including NSCLC and colorectal cancer.

"By combining the immune checkpoint inhibition and anti-angiogenic activity of RC148 together with the targeted cytotoxic activity of ADCs, we have the potential to identify meaningful options for patients," commented Daejin Abidoye, who leads AbbVie's R&D in solid tumours and haematological cancers.

The royalty-bearing license gives AbbVie exclusive rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialise RC148 outside of the Greater China territory.

The FDA granted RemeGen approval to start a phase 2 trial of RC148 in multiple solid tumours last August. It is being tested in China in phase 1/2 studies and has been awarded a breakthrough designation from the National Medical Products Association (NMPA) for use in combination with docetaxel as a second-line therapy for NSCLC.

Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay