Massachusetts-based Crescent Biopharma and Sichuan Kelun-Biotech from China have announced a collaboration to develop new cancer therapies. The agreement, disclosed on Thursday, is valued at up to $1.25 billion.
Crescent will contribute its PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody, CR-001, while Kelun-Biotech will bring SKB105, an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) that targets integrin beta-6—a protein often found in high levels in certain cancers. Under the terms of the deal, Crescent will pay $80 million upfront and may provide milestone payments totaling $1.25 billion for rights to SKB105 outside Greater China. Kelun-Biotech will receive royalties on sales of SKB105. In return, Kelun-Biotech will pay Crescent $20 million upfront and may pay up to $30 million in milestone payments, along with royalties for CR-001 sales within China.
Both companies plan to test their respective drugs as single agents or together for treating solid tumors. Both therapies are expected to begin Phase I/II clinical trials in early 2026.
PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibodies like CR-001 have drawn interest following the performance of Summit Therapeutics and Akeso’s ivonescimab against Merck’s Keytruda in a late-stage trial for non-small cell lung cancer in September 2024. However, there has been some caution regarding whether results generated primarily in China can be applied to patients in the United States.
Despite these concerns, investment activity remains strong in this area. In November 2024, Merck entered into a partnership with Shanghai-based LaNova Medicines, paying $588 million upfront and agreeing to potential milestones totaling $2.7 billion for LaNova’s LM-299 candidate targeting solid tumors (https://www.biospace.com/article/merck-bets-on-lanova-s-bispecific-antibody-in-up-to-3-billion-deal/). Pfizer also made a licensing deal with 3SBio worth $1.25 billion upfront and up to $4.8 billion in additional payments for access to SSGJ-707, another bispecific antibody (https://www.biospace.com/article/pfizer-nabs-chinese-biotech-s-bispecific-antibody-in-up-to-6b-deal/). Bristol Myers Squibb committed about $11 billion for a collaboration on BioNTech’s BNT-327 (https://www.biospace.com/article/bristol-myers-squibb-and-biontech-sign-potentially-11b-cancer-collaboration-/).
Kelun-Biotech’s SKB105 falls into the ADC category—a field where fewer than 20 therapies have received FDA approval so far. This leaves significant opportunities for new entrants.
Recent deals reflect growing interest: Takeda agreed to co-develop two ADCs with Innovent for $11.4 billion (https://www.biospace.com/article/takeda-and-china-s-innovent-sign-up-to-11b-adc-cancer-collaboration/) and Roche paid over $1.5 billion for Hansoh Pharmaceutical’s ADC focused on colorectal cancer (https://www.biospace.com/article/roche-doubles-down-on-adcs-with-hansoh-pharma-colorectal-cancer-deal/).
