The Massachusetts-based Crescent Biopharma has joined forces with China’s Sichuan Kelun-Biotech to establish and advance the combined antibody-drug conjugate and PD-1/VEGF bispecific, in a collaboration valued at around $1.25 billion. Basically, it’s a swapping of therapies to explore different ways to develop the drug and boost the clinical trial. The collaboration will focus on Kelun-Biotech’s SKB105 and Crescent’s PD-1/VEGF inhibitor CR-001 to make a valuable shift into the Phase 1/2 development for solid tumors.
This plan will be executed by next year, calling out for a new beginning and a worthy partnership to accelerate the clinical trial and contribute excellence to the drug development spectrum. The therapy is the center of this partnership. The kelun’s SKB105 is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting integrin beta-6, a protein that is generally overexpressed in malignancies.
According to the terms and conditions of this swapping therapies partnership move, the Crescent will credit $80 million and the milestone payment of $1.25 billion for signing SKB105 to own, execute trial or commercialise outside the Greater China region. Whereas, Kelun will also be qualified to receive royalty payments on sales of the drug.
The Chinese company will credit the account of Crescent for a worth $20 million as an upfront payment and promise of $30 million on royalties and profit received on CR-001 sales within the China region. Both partners will test the swapped molecules on a combination basis or in monotherapies for solid tumors. The candidates from both companies are all prepared to enter Phase 1/2 development next year.
The PD-1/VEGF bispecifics, such as CR-001, have gained almost all attention in the past year after the success of Akeso and Summit Therapeutics ivonescimab in September 2024 against Merck’s Keytruda. The Merk’s modality presentation made a space for investment, and later joined hands with Shanghai-related LaNova Medicines to get a ticket to perform its excellence in November 2024. Kelun Biotech’s SKB105 comes with an emerging and strong background with a well-developed class of cancer therapies.
Less than 20 ADCs have received the approval stamp by the FDA, which has helped many drugmakers to conduct trials confidently with more space to join the field. Now this partnership will push the science and development towards a better future of drug development without hesitating to perform and practice in different areas to bring collective success to the business.
Mansi Kadam is a market research writer with over 3 years of experience analyzing trends in the healthcare industry. At Towards Healthcare, she covers innovations in medical sector, sustainability initiatives, and the evolving regulatory landscape.
