LegoChem Biosciences and Iksuda Enter Licensing Agreement for Antibody Drug Conjugate Program

DAEJEON, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LegoChem Biosciences, Inc. (“LCB”) (KOSDAQ:141080), based in Daejeon, South Korea, announced today a worldwide license agreement with Iksuda Therapeutics (“Iksuda”) for the development and commercialization of LCB73, a CD19-targeted ADC candidate for hematological tumors.

Under the terms of the agreement, Iksuda will make an upfront payment of USD 5 million and LCB is eligible to receive development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments of up to USD 222 million as well as royalties on commercial sales. LCB is also entitled to receive a prearranged percentage of sublicense revenue if Iksuda enters into license agreement with third party companies. All payments will be shared with LCB’s partner Light Chain Bioscience (Novimmune SA).

LCB73 has been generated in a partnership between LCB and Swiss-based Light Chain Bioscience’s (Novimmune SA) by combining LCB’s cancer-selectively activated next-generation linker and toxin platform with Light Chain Bioscience’s proprietary antibody targeting CD19. Preclinical data of LCB73 along with the clinical outcome of other CD19-targeted therapies suggest that the ADC may be an effective treatment option for various B-cell hematological cancers including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and Burkitt lymphoma.

“We are very pleased to expand our partnership with Iksuda to advance the development of LCB73, in addition to the recent license agreement which enables the application of our ADC platform to Iksuda’s pipeline of Next Generation ADCs,” said Dr. Yong-Zu Kim, CEO & President of LCB. “This particular ADC program will set a significant milestone as it is our first lead ADC candidate utilizing our next-generation prodrug payload, whose commercial and clinical potential will be explored through this collaboration.”

“We have been very impressed with preclinical data using LCB73 which have demonstrated significant single-agent anti-cancer activity in B cell malignancies and a competitive toxicity profile,” said Dr. David Simpson, CEO of Iksuda. “We look forward to advancing this candidate into the clinic in the most efficient manner, utilizing our extensive UK and US based ADC expertise to drive preclinical and clinical development activities.”