ABL Bio said on the 26th that it will receive a $40 million upfront payment (Hanwha 58.5 billion won) and a $15 million equity investment (22 billion won) from Eli Lilly and Company under a technology transfer and joint research and development agreement for the blood-brain barrier (BBB)-penetrating platform "Grabody-B."
According to the company, the receipt of funds became possible as related administrative procedures, including the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (HSR Act), were completed. ABL Bio and Lilly are currently conducting research and development to develop multiple therapeutics based on various modalities (treatment delivery methods) using the Grabody platform.
Based on the funds secured this time, ABL Bio plans to strengthen its collaboration with Lilly while accelerating research and development on core technologies such as the bispecific antibody platform Grabody, bispecific antibody antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), and dual-payload ADCs.
Previously, in Nov. last year, the company separately signed a technology transfer and joint research and development agreement for the Grabody platform worth a total of $2.602 billion (3.8 trillion won) and an equity investment agreement worth $15 million with Lilly. ABL Bio plans to use this as a basis to expand the scope of new drug development collaboration with Lilly.
ABL Bio has multiple clinical and nonclinical pipelines based on the bispecific antibody platform Grabody. Among them, clinical trials for eight key candidates are underway in the United States, China, Australia and Korea.
In particular, the follow-up clinical trial of "ABL301," which completed phase 1, is being conducted by Sanofi of France, and "ABL001" was designated for expedited review (fast track) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). "ABL111," which is being co-developed with Novabridge Biosciences (formerly I-Mab), presented phase 1b data combining nivolumab with chemotherapy at the European Society for Medical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancers Congress (ESMO GI) 2025 held in July.
Chief Executive Lee Sang-hoon of ABL Bio said, "While expanding the application of the Grabody platform to areas with limited treatment options, such as obesity and muscle diseases, we also plan to focus on combination therapy trials of bispecific immuno-oncology drugs and next-generation ADC development."