Celltrion disclosed on the 19th that it signed a platform technology license agreement with TriOar.
The core of this agreement is that Celltrion will jointly develop a next-generation Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC) new drug—dubbed a "guided missile that targets cancer cells"—by leveraging TriOar's platform technology (TROCAD™ · TriOar's Conditionally Activatable Domain).
TriOar is a bio technology corporations based on a new drug development platform founded in 2021 by Dr. Woo Seong-ho, a founding member of LigaChem Biosciences and IntoCell. The company holds TROCAD™, a platform technology that can be applied simultaneously or selectively to antibody-based therapeutics including ADCs, and TROSIG™, a next-generation ADC linker system.
Looking at the contract terms, there is no upfront payment. Instead, after signing, a proof-of-concept (POC) will be conducted for the first target, and upon success, a 1 billion won platform technology license fee will be paid. In addition, stepwise milestones and royalties based on sales scale will be paid. If licenses for all six targets are exercised, the total will be $356 million (about 522 billion won), including up to $231 million (about 338 billion won) in development milestones and up to $125 million (about 183 billion won) in sales milestones.
According to TriOar, TROCAD™ is a dual-function structure that enables drugs to reach tumor tissue more precisely while preventing unnecessary binding to normal cells. This maximizes drug delivery efficiency to cancer lesions while blocking binding to normal cells to reduce toxicity.
Celltrion plans to use this technology to pursue development and commercialization of next-generation ADCs for six targets. For two of these targets, a joint development option may be exercised, and if the option is exercised, the two companies will share ADC application technology and know-how.
Meanwhile, TriOar is based in the Seoul Bio Hub, a bio and medical startup support platform operated by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, where it is advancing its technology with research infrastructure and commercialization support.