LigaChem Biosciences said on the 8th that it will receive a development progress milestone (stage-based technology fee) from Japan's Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (hereafter Ono Pharmaceutical) tied to the transfer of its Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC) platform technology. However, the size of the milestone and detailed terms were not disclosed under the companies' agreement.
ADC is a treatment technology that delivers a drug attached to an antibody precisely to cancer cells. It is composed of an "antibody" that seeks out cancer cells, a "payload," the drug that kills cancer cells, and a "linker" that connects them. LigaChem Biosciences has linker (connector) technology that conjugates the desired amount of drug to specific sites on an antibody.
The company's receipt of this milestone is a follow-up achievement from the ADC platform technology transfer deal signed in Oct. 2024. At the time, the two companies signed a joint research agreement for discovery of candidates using LigaChem Biosciences' proprietary ADC platform "ConjuAll™."
Then in Mar. last year, they completed designation of the first target, achieving the first milestone, and research and development of the ADC candidate under development based on that target proceeded smoothly on the originally planned schedule. The company said that, as a result, it will receive an additional milestone.
Park Se-jin, president of LigaChem Biosciences, said, "Receiving this milestone is more than a one-off revenue; it again confirms the solid trust with Ono Pharmaceutical and the outstanding scalability of our ADC platform technology."
Park said, "This news is an indicator that the 'performance-centered research and development (R&D)' promised by LigaChem Biosciences is proceeding without a hitch," adding, "We will continue to enhance shareholder value through steady pipeline progress and inflows of technology fees, and solidify our status as a global ADC leader."
LigaChem Biosciences also said it is on track to achieve stage-based milestones for pipelines in collaboration with multiple global partners in addition to Ono Pharmaceutical.