Adagene Achieves $3 Million Milestone in Collaboration with Exelixis for Successful Nomination of Second SAFEbody® Novel Masked Antibody-Drug Conjugate
04 May 2023 - 11:00PM
Adagene Inc. (“Adagene”) (Nasdaq: ADAG), a platform-driven,
clinical-stage biotechnology company transforming the discovery and
development of novel antibody-based therapies today announced
achievement of a milestone in its ongoing collaboration with
Exelixis for development of novel masked antibody-drug conjugate
(ADC) candidates leveraging Adagene’s proprietary SAFEbody
precision masking technology.
Under the terms of a collaboration and licensing agreement
established in 2021, the milestone triggers a $3 million payment to
Adagene for successful nomination of the lead SAFEbody candidates
for the second of its collaboration programs.
“This milestone reflects our focus on delivering high quality
antibody candidates to our technology licensing partners, further
validating our platform and world-class antibody engineering
expertise,” said Peter Luo, Ph.D., Co-founder, Chief Executive
Officer, and Chairman of Adagene. “Our collaboration with
Exelixis also reflects a strong commitment at Adagene to bringing
in non-dilutive funding by leveraging our SAFEbody precision
masking and dynamic antibody technologies.”
SAFEbody technology is designed to overcome safety and
tolerability challenges associated with many antibody therapeutics
by using precision masking technology to shield the binding domain
of the biologic therapy. This allows for improved tumor-specific
targeting of antibodies, while minimizing on-target off-tumor
toxicity in healthy tissues, a longstanding challenge with many
antibody therapeutics.
Under the terms of the agreement, Adagene received an
upfront payment of $11.0 million and Exelixis can
nominate two targets for development of SAFEbody candidates during
the collaboration. Adagene is eligible for development and
commercialization milestones, as well as royalties on net sales of
products developed around each of these targets.
In January 2022, Adagene received a $3.0 million milestone
payment from Exelixis for the successful nomination of lead
SAFEbody candidates for one of the collaboration programs, and an
additional $1.1 million upfront payment in June
2022.
Adagene has a network of global technology licensing agreements,
including a $2.5 billion collaboration with Sanofi announced in
March 2022. In addition to ongoing technology licensing
collaborations, Adagene applies its SAFEbody technology to develop
candidates for its wholly-owned pipeline of transformative
antibody-based therapeutics. The company also has a clinical
collaboration with Roche, who is sponsoring and conducting a
randomized phase 1b/2 to evaluate the anti-CTLA-4 SAFEbody ADG126
in combination with atezolizumab and bevacizumab in first-line
treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.
About Adagene
Adagene Inc. (Nasdaq: ADAG) is a platform-driven, clinical-stage
biotechnology company committed to transforming the discovery and
development of novel antibody-based cancer immunotherapies. Adagene
combines computational biology and artificial intelligence to
design novel antibodies that address unmet patient needs. Powered
by its proprietary Dynamic Precision Library (DPL) platform,
composed of NEObody™, SAFEbody®, and POWERbody™ technologies,
Adagene’s highly differentiated pipeline features novel
immunotherapy programs. Adagene has forged strategic collaborations
with reputable global partners that leverage its technology in
multiple approaches at the vanguard of science.
For more information, please
visit: https://investor.adagene.com.
SAFEbody® is a registered trademark in the United
States, China, Australia, Japan, Singapore, and
the European Union.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements,
including statements regarding the potential benefits and
collaborations under the collaboration and license agreement with
Exelixis and other licensing agreements, statements regarding the
potential implications of clinical data for patients, and Adagene’s
advancement of, and anticipated clinical activities, clinical
development, regulatory milestones, and commercialization of its
product candidates. Actual results may differ materially from those
indicated in the forward-looking statements as a result of various
important factors, including but not limited to Adagene’s ability
to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of its drug candidates; the
clinical results for its drug candidates, which may not support
further development or regulatory approval; the content and timing
of decisions made by the relevant regulatory authorities regarding
regulatory approval of Adagene’s drug candidates; Adagene’s ability
to achieve commercial success for its drug candidates, if approved;
Adagene’s ability to obtain and maintain protection of intellectual
property for its technology and drugs; Adagene’s reliance on third
parties to conduct drug development, manufacturing and other
services; Adagene’s limited operating history and Adagene’s ability
to obtain additional funding for operations and to complete the
development and commercialization of its drug candidates; Adagene’s
ability to enter into additional collaboration agreements beyond
its existing strategic partnerships or collaborations, and the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Adagene’s clinical development,
commercial and other operations, as well as those risks more fully
discussed in the “Risk Factors” section in Adagene’s filings with
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking
statements are based on information currently available to Adagene,
and Adagene undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise
any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required
by law.
Investor & Media Contact
Ami Knoefler
Adagene
650-739-9952
ir@adagene.com
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