LigaChem Biosciences announced on the 21st that it will invest $25 million (about 36.5 billion won) in its UK partner, IKSUDA Therapeutics, for the purpose of management participation.
Through this, LigaChem Biosciences will secure the position of largest shareholder and the pipeline rights held by IKSUDA. The company completed the first phase of the investment amounting to $15 million in the fourth quarter of last year. An additional $10 million is planned to be carried out in the middle of this year. After the completion of the investment, LigaChem Biosciences will acquire 26.6% equity in IKSUDA.
The company plans to accelerate the clinical development of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) held by IKSUDA to hasten their commercialization.
In particular, to accelerate the transfer of the breast cancer treatment 'HER2-ADC', an additional global clinical trial will be expanded targeting only resistant patients who do not respond to marketed competing ADC drugs. IKSUDA holds pipelines such as LCB14 (HER2-ADC), LCB73 (CD19-ADC), and through the transfer of LigaChem Biosciences' material technology, IKS04 (CanAg-ADC), IKS012 (FRα-ADC), among others.
IKSUDA is advancing third-party technology transfers and initial public offerings (IPOs) of multiple programs that are under development through the introduction of technology from LigaChem Biosciences, including LCB14 and LCB73, at the clinical stage.
Kim Yong-joo, CEO of LigaChem Biosciences, said, "Through this investment, we will leverage IKSUDA's rich clinical development capabilities specialized in the ADC field to focus on the clinical development and commercialization of the pipelines held by both companies, thereby creating positive synergy."