Alveltamig

UCB has turned to the east to bolster its immunology pipeline with a T-cell engager (TCE), licensing China-based Antengene Corporation’s ATG-201— a novel CD19/CD3 bispecific designed for B cell-driven autoimmune diseases — in a deal worth up to $1.18 billion.ATG-201 is developed using Antengene’s proprietary AnTenGager platform, which applies steric hindrance-based masking to enable disease antigen-dependent CD3 engagement. It combines bivalent CD19 binding with a proprietary fast-on/fast-off CD3 binder, aiming to achieve potent B-cell depletion while minimising cytokine release syndrome risk and T-cell exhaustion."Access to Antengene's cutting-edge [TCE] platform technology enhances our ambition to lead in immunology," said Alistair Henry, chief scientific officer at UCB.Under terms of the agreement announced Tuesday, UCB secures an exclusive licence to develop, manufacture and commercialise ATG-201 globally, alongside access to associated manufacturing technology. Antengene will pocket $60 million upfront, with eligibility for an additional $20 million in near-term milestones, followed by over $1.1 billion in success-based milestone payments, plus tiered sales royalties.Antengene will complete Phase I studies of ATG-201— planned in China and Australia — before transferring further development responsibilities to UCB. The former noted it retains nine additional disclosed programmes in its pipeline, spanning autoimmune diseases, solid tumours and haematological malignancies. The latest pact adds to a rising wave of licensing activity around TCEs. Earlier this year, AbbVie signed a $1.2-billion deal with Suzhou Zelgen Biopharmaceuticals for ex-China rights to the trispecific alveltamig. More recently, Astellas committed $1.7 billion to partner with Vir Biotechnology on a dual-masked CD3 TCE.

iStock, vzphotos The Illinois-based pharma has committed more than $1 billion in milestones to secure rights to ZG006 and join a who’s who of drugmakers targeting the DLL3 protein. AbbVie is paying $100 million upfront for ex-China rights to a potential challenger to Amgen’s lung cancer drug Imdelltra. The deal gives AbbVie access to ZG006, a DLL3xDLL3 T-cell engager that Suzhou Zelgen Biopharmaceuticals recently took into Phase III. The pact, detailed in a Shanghai stock exchange filing first reported by Fierce Biotech , has AbbVie committing $1.075 billion in milestones to secure rights to ZG006. AbbVie will pay up to $60 million in near-term milestone payments based on clinical progress and fees related to licensing options, if it activates the China option. ZG006 is operating in a popular space. Amgen is leading the pack after validating the concept of targeting DLL3 to treat small cell lung cancer (SCLC) with Imdelltra, a bispecific antibody that binds DLL3 on tumor cells and CD3 on T cells. Imdelltra received full FDA approval in extensive SCLC in November, after securing an accelerated nod in 2024. ZG006, also known as alveltamig, is designed to improve on Imdelltra by binding to two distinct DLL3 epitopes on tumor cells and CD3 on T cells. The candidate’s trispecific T-cell engager design could drive efficacy against tumors with low DLL3 expression. Zelgen, also known as Zejing Biopharmaceutical, reported Phase II data in SCLC last year. The biotech saw a 66.7% response rate in 27 heavily pretreated patients. All the patients had received at least two lines of therapy, with most previously taking an anti-PD-(L)1 checkpoint inhibitor. Nearly half the patients had received at least three lines of treatment. Investigators retrospectively evaluated DLL3 expression, revealing that levels of the target were low in 21 of the participants. Zelgen reported a 71.4% response rate in an analysis that pooled the 21 patients with four participants who had medium DLL3 expression. Imdelltra’s approval, meanwhile, was based on a Phase III trial that reported a 40% response rate in 99 SCLC patients who had tried at least two prior therapies. Zelgen’s analysis included fewer patients, all of whom were enrolled in China. Responsibility for showing whether ZG006’s potential edge over Imdelltra holds up in larger global studies will fall to AbbVie, which joins many of its peers in the DLL3 space. Merck, for instance, acquired the trispecific DLL3 T-cell engager MK-6070 when it bought Harpoon for $650 million in 2024. Daiichi Sankyo later paid Merck $170 million for a stake in the program. Other Big Pharmas have irons in this fire as well. Boehringer Ingelheim has a bispecific DLL3xCD3 T-cell engager in Phase II. Roche has a Phase I trispecific antibody targeting DLL3 with bivalent CD3xCD137 binding. Targeting the costimulatory immunoreceptor CD137 is intended to increase efficacy. Roche added a DLL3-directed antibody-drug conjugate to its pipeline in early 2025, also going to China to license a molecule in a $1 billion-plus biobucks deal.