Innovent Biologics and Synaffix Announce Licensing Deal Expansion

Innovent Biologics, Inc. (Innovent), a world-class biopharmaceutical company announced an expansion of its licensing agreement with Synaffix B.V., a Lonza company focused on commercializing its clinical-stage platform technology for the development of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) with best-in-class therapeutic index.

The expanded deal builds on a previous agreement signed in June 2021, under which Innovent is granted to deploy Synaffix’s ADC technologies on a target-specific, non-exclusive basis, including GlycoConnect, HydraSpace and one of its toxSYN linker-payloads, for a therapeutic molecule (Innovent R&D code: IBI343, a CLDN18.2 ADC) which has advanced to phase 1 clinical development, as per pharmabiz.

Innovent will focus on the development of at least one new ADC candidate under the parameters of the expanded agreement, leveraging Synaffix's ADC technology to allow best-in-class efficacy and tolerability for ADCs. Innovent will be in charge of novel ADC candidate research, development, production, and commercialization. For each licensed target, Synaffix is eligible for an upfront payment as well as potential milestone payments and royalties on commercial sales.

Dr. Kaijie He, vice president of cancer biology and ADC research at Innovent, said: “Innovent has progressed one ADC candidate under the initial phase of our collaboration with Synaffix to the clinical development stage. This expanded deal adds additional novel ADC to our research projects, allowing us to further build on our understanding of ADC research and ADC pipeline development.”

Peter van de Sande, head of synaffix, said: “With its focus on innovative medicines and R&D expertise, Innovent has proven to be an ideal partner for us. Our partnership with Innovent has rapidly built momentum around IBI343 and we look forward to expanding our collaboration using our technology platform, including enabling off-the-shelf conversion of antibodies into ADCs, and Innovent’s world-leading clinical development capabilities with its strong proven track record to swiftly advance product candidates to the clinic.”