Celltrion bought two autoimmune disease treatment candidates owned by Kaigene for an upfront payment of about 11.4 billion won.
Celltrion said on the 4th that it signed an exclusive license agreement with Kaigene, a biotechnology corporations in Maryland, for two antibody-based new drug candidates to treat autoimmune diseases.
Kaigene is a biotechnology company specialized in developing multi-antibody new drugs using its PDEGTM (Pathogenic Antibody Degrader) platform, a technology that degrades pathogenic autoantibodies.
Under the agreement, Celltrion secured the exclusive global development and sales rights, excluding China and Japan, to KG006, which is in Kaigene's preclinical pipeline, and the exclusive global development, manufacturing, and sales rights to KG002 worldwide.
The total deal size is up to about 1.062 trillion won, including an upfront payment of about 11.4 billion won, development milestones of up to about 158.4 billion won, and sales milestones of up to about 892.1 billion won (upon achieving net sales of 5.7096 trillion won). If commercialization succeeds, royalties based on sales will be paid separately at 5%–10% of net sales.
The candidates Celltrion secured are autoimmune disease treatments based on the principle of the neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn).
FcRn is a receptor protein that binds to immunoglobulin G (IgG) in the body and helps maintain the immune system by allowing IgG to recirculate without being degraded in intracellular organelles. Leveraging this principle is a next-generation treatment strategy that effectively removes pathogenic autoantibodies that cause diseases, including autoimmune diseases.
The company said, "FcRn inhibitors are emerging as a next-generation mechanism for treating autoimmune diseases after TNF-α inhibitors and interleukin (IL) inhibitors, and they are highly regarded for growth potential because they can expand to a variety of indications."
Celltrion said the addition of this new pipeline further strengthens its new drug development-centered system. Early this year, the company announced a new drug development roadmap that includes Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC) and bispecific antibody candidates, and is accelerating the expansion of its pipeline (candidates). The company's stated goal is to move beyond biosimilar to become a new drug developer.
A Celltrion official said, "By securing two new candidates, Celltrion is entering new drug development in the autoimmune disease treatment area where it has strength, and is expected to further strengthen its leadership as a new drug developer."