AbbVie has announced an agreement to license rights outside China for RemeGen’s PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody, RC148. The deal includes a $650 million upfront payment and potential milestone payments totaling up to $4.95 billion. This move places AbbVie among several major pharmaceutical companies investing in the growing field of bispecific antibodies for cancer treatment.
In recent years, companies such as Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck, and Pfizer have made significant investments in similar drug candidates targeting PD-1/L1/VEGF pathways. Collectively, these deals have exceeded $20 billion in value. Interest in this area increased after Akeso and Summit Therapeutics’ PD-1/VEGF bispecific outperformed Merck’s Keytruda in 2024, leading to optimism about the mechanism’s potential across various tumor types.
RemeGen began clinical trials with RC148 in 2023, focusing on solid tumors including breast cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. So far, all trial sites are located within China.
According to analysts from Leerink Partners, the addition of RC148 could be significant for AbbVie’s pipeline, although they note that competition is strong in this sector. They expect data from three RemeGen trials later this year.
AbbVie reported that early clinical studies have shown initial favorable antitumor activity when RC148 is combined with an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC). ADCs remain a key focus for AbbVie; the company acquired ImmunoGen and its approved drug Elahere for $10.1 billion in 2023 and received FDA approval for Emrelis last year.
Roopal Thakkar, AbbVie’s chief scientific officer, explained the company’s approach: “We always felt with ADCs it would be important to have a combination in the immuno-oncology space, so we are developing in TGF-beta and anti-CCR8. That being said, if there’s other opportunities like the one that you’ve brought up that we’ve seen some data readouts, that could be something that we would be interested in.”
Thakkar also commented on the strategic fit: “Adding a PD-1/L1/VEGF bispecific to AbbVie’s pipeline could support ‘unique’ combinations with ADCs.” Other companies such as Merck and Pfizer have also entered into multibillion-dollar agreements related to ADCs recently. Meanwhile, BioNTech—BMS’ partner—is conducting combination trials involving these therapies.
