SOTIO prolongs collaboration with NBE-Therapeutics to develop antibody-drug conjugates

NBE-Therapeutics AG and SOTIO a.s. today announced that SOTIO has elected a second target for the development of a next generation antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) under their existing license and collaboration agreement. NBE and SOTIO will collaborate on the discovery, non-clinical development and manufacturing of this second undisclosed target. The development will be based on NBE’s proprietary antibody drug conjugate platform, including NBE’s site-specific SMAC-technology™ conjugation and its new, highly potent anthracycline toxin platforms. SOTIO will take global responsibility for clinical development, registration and commercialization of the ADC products.

NBE-Therapeutics’ new iADC platform creates highly potent and safe immune-stimulatory ADCs with an anthracycline payload, inducing a long-lasting immunological anti-tumor effect. It has shown unprecedented preclinical data in efficacy, as well as safety, in multiple pipeline programs. Its lead program NBE-002 against the ROR1 target has successfully passed the GLP tox study and is in the final stages of CMC. It is expected to begin its first in-human study by mid-2020 for triple negative breast cancer and lung cancer, as well as other cancer indications.

NBE is eligible for the option exercise fee, as well as milestone payments and royalties based on global net product sales. In addition, NBE will be reimbursed for its R&D expenses incurred in connection with product development in collaboration with SOTIO.

Dr. Ulf Grawunder, CEO of NBE-Therapeutics commented: “We are very enthusiastic that SOTIO has nominated a second ADC program under the existing collaboration agreement between SOTIO and NBE, confirming the high quality of our ADC platform. We have now created a robust and scalable ADC platform that enables us to leverage iADC development in clinical studies for multiple programs. The collaboration with Sotio over the past years has further strengthened our technology and we are very proud to have them on board for a second iADC development program.”

“Based on the very encouraging data from our first collaboration target with NBE and the SO-N102 program, as well as the data of NBE’s proprietary program NBE-002, we have now exercised the second target option in the collaboration,” mentions Dr. Radek Spisek, CEO of SOTIO. “NBE’s product platform addresses the key issues of today’s antibody-drug conjugates and has the potential to provide new and superior treatment options for cancer patients.”