Adagene will conduct early-stage research to develop masked versions of Sanofi’s antibody candidates using its SAFEbody technology
Adagene, Sanofi enter masked immuno-therapeutics collaboration. (Credit: fernando zhiminaicela from Pixabay)
French healthcare company Sanofi has reached a collaboration and exclusive license deal with Adagene to develop masked monoclonal and bispecific antibodies.
Under the collaboration, Adagene will conduct early-stage research to develop masked versions of Sanofi’s antibody candidates, leveraging Adagene’s SAFEbody technology.
Sanofi will be responsible for further research, product development and commercialisation of the products after early-stage development.
The French drugmaker is expected to make an upfront payment of $17.5m to Adagene.
It holds the right to advance two of its initial antibody candidates in the collaboration, followed by an option to advance two additional candidates.
Adagene is eligible to receive potential milestone payments totalling up to $2.5bn, in addition to tiered royalties on net sales of products resulting from the collaboration.
Sanofi oncology research global head Valeria Fantin said: “Committed to chasing the miracles of science, we look forward to working with Adagene to design antibodies that can help us deliver on our mission to bring transformative new medicines to people living with cancer.
“Adagene’s antibody platform should help us to precisely target established, but poorly addressed oncology mechanisms with best-in-class medicines.”
Adagene is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel antibody-based cancer immunotherapies.
The company combines computational biology and artificial intelligence to design novel antibodies that address unmet patient needs.
Its SAFEbody technology is designed to leverage precision masking technology to address safety and tolerability challenges related to the majority of antibody therapeutics.
The technology can be applied to various therapeutic modalities, including monoclonal and bispecific antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates, and T-cell engagers, said Adagene.
In addition to SAFEbody technology, the company’s Dynamic Precision Library (DPL) platform includes NEObody and POWERbody technologies.
Adagene co-founder, CEO, and chairman Peter Luo said: “We are excited to work with Sanofi and unlock the potential of multiple promising yet challenging immuno-oncology targets by applying our SAFEbody precision masking technology.
“We are at the forefront of pushing the boundaries of antibody discovery and engineering by leveraging our AI-powered technology platform.
“This enables dynamic and precise target engagement by our antibody-based therapeutics, which are tailor-made to overcome the fundamental challenges in oncology drug development today.”
In a separate development, DarioHealth, a digital therapeutics (DTx) company, has entered into a $30m agreement with healthcare company Sanofi US.
The partnership aims to advance commercial adoption of Dario’s full suite of digital therapeutics and drive the expansion of digital health solutions on the Dario platform.