Chinese biotechs InnoCare Pharma and KeyMed Biosciences have sold the international rights to a clinical-stage bispecific antibody to a new company created by RTW Investments for $17.5 million in near-term cash.
The CD20xCD3 antibody, known as ICP-B02 or CM355, is currently undergoing a phase 1/2 trial in China for relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). That trial has already produced “promising early results in both intravenous (IV) and subcutaneous (SC) formulations, particularly in patients with follicular lymphoma (FL) and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma," the companies said in a Jan. 20 release.
Specifically, all 13 patients who were treated with ICP-B02 at doses of 6 mg or above responded to their treatment, according to Innocare’s website. Innocare is best known for the BTK inhibitor orelabrutinib, which has been approved in China for lymphoma since 2023.
A dose expansion trial pairing up ICP-B02 with other immunochemotherapies for earlier lines of NHL treatment is also in the works, with permission granted for a U.S. study.
U.S.-based Prolium Biosciences has now agreed to pay InnoCare and Keymed $17.5 million in upfront and near-term payments to develop and commercialize ICP-B02 as a cancer drug outside of China. Prolium also has the right to develop ICP-B02 in non-cancer indications globally, according to a filling with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (PDF).
The two Chinese biotechs will also be in line for up to $502.5 million in potential milestone payments from Prolium, along with tiered royalties on net sales. InnoCare and KeyMed will split the money evenly, and will also receive a minority equity stake in Prolium.
Prolium was set up by RTW in 2024. Last year also saw the New York-based investment fund involved in the launch of obesity biotech Kailera Therapeutics, which RTW said at the time was the fourth company it had helped create.
It’s been a busy January for Keymed, which also launched a new company with U.S.-based biotech builder Mountainfield Venture Partners called Timberlyne Therapeutics to take forward a clinical-stage CD38-targeting antibody. Before that, Keymed was behind KYM, a joint venture with fellow Hong Kong-listed Lepu Biopharma that received $63 million from AstraZeneca in 2023 in turn for an early-phase antibody-drug conjugate.