Having kicked off the year with a T-cell engager deal, AbbVie has returned to the modality. This time, the pharma is paying Xilio Therapeutics $52 million upfront to work on antibody-based immunotherapies.
The “multi-program” collaboration is designed to “combine AbbVie's oncology expertise and Xilio's proprietary tumor-activation technology to develop novel immunotherapies, including masked T-cell engagers,” according to a pair of Feb. 12 releases.
As well as the $52 million upfront fee, which includes a $10 million equity investment in Waltham, Mass.-based Xilio, AbbVie is liable to pay out up to $2.1 billion in option-related fees and milestones, on top of potential royalties.
T-cell engagers are bispecific antibodies that bind to T cells and a molecule on a target cell, coercing the T cells to attack the target. The modality has been at the center of a string of biotech announcements in recent months, including Candid Therapeutics’ $925 million biobucks pact with WuXi Biologics, the launch of GSK-backed Ouro Medicines and the blockbuster hype surrounding Janux Therapeutics’ phase 1 prostate cancer asset.
AbbVie is no stranger to this space, having paid $65 million upfront in October 2024 to license EvolveImmune’s multispecific biologics for various targets in solid and hematologic malignancies. Then last month, the Big Pharma made one of the biggest deals of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference when it handed China’s Simcere Zaiming an undisclosed upfront payment with the potential of up to $1.05 billion in milestone payments for a phase 1-stage trispecific antibody.
“AbbVie is committed to expanding our R&D efforts in oncology,” Theodora Ross, M.D., Ph.D., vice president, early oncology R&D, AbbVie, said in this morning’s release.
“This includes investigation of novel immunotherapy approaches that aim to generate improved next-generation cancer treatments for patients in need,” Ross added. “This partnership with the Xilio team further exemplifies our commitment.”
Xilio has been working on a pipeline of tumor-activated biologics, including masked multispecific molecules “designed to achieve tumor-selective activation by leveraging masking and other unique components that are optimized for the specific target,” the biotech said.
Along with this morning’s AbbVie collaboration, Xilio also unveiled three preclinical T-cell engager programs aimed at the tumor-associated antigens PSMA, CLDN18.2 and STEAP1.
Gilead has already spied potential in Xilio’s platform, paying out $43.5 million upfront in March 2024 for the rights to develop and commercialize the biotech's tumor-activated IL-12 candidate.