Celltrion teams up with another Korean biopharma in antibody discovery deal

Two Korean companies have signed a joint R&D discovery agreement, with the potential to earn in the nine-figures.

Clinical-stage biopharma Genuv has partnered up with Celltrion to discover antibodies using the former’s Shine Mouse platform, which they hope could potentially open up more R&D projects together in the future. There’s no upfront cash, but Genuv will receive milestone payments of up to $25 million if Celltrion decides to option a program into the clinic, and up to $680 million in milestones per program if its sales surpass $7.5 billion.

Genuv, which is focused on oncology and neurodegenerative diseases, already has several antibodies in its pipeline: GNUV205, a tumor-specific IL-2-based immunocytokine anticancer drug and another anti-PD-1 drug candidate GNUV201.

According to Genuv, the company’s platform “generates antibodies with greater diversity compared to those developed with conventional mice.” The company is also nearing the completion of a second platform, called NuvoFc, for bi- and multi-specifics. NuvoFc skips the mice and directly discovers human antibodies.

Sungho Han

“We are excited to embark on our mouse platform business with Celltrion as our first partner,” Sungho Han, Genuv founder and CEO, said in a statement. “We believe Celltrion’s in-depth knowledge and experiences in antibody development and production and Genuv’s expertise in novel antibody discovery with our SHINE MOUSETM platform could generate great synergies in providing innovative antibody therapeutics.”

Genuv lists seven total candidates in its pipeline, including SNR1611, a MEK1/2 inhibitor in Phase II trials for ALS and in the IND-enabling phase for Alzheimer’s.

Celltrion has been on the expansion path over the last several years, with an investment of $453 million in 2020 into building a new research center and manufacturing facility in its home city of Incheon, Korea. In 2019, the company blueprinted a $514 million biologics plant in China.

In 2020, honorary chairman Jung Jin Seo laid out his vision for the company over the next decade with a goal of launching one biosimilar product every year, reaching a total number of 18 products by 2030. It appears to be on its way to Seo’s goal with seven biosimilars described on its website so far.

In September of last year, regulators approved Celltrion’s biosimilar Vegzelma in six cancer types, the company’s third cancer biosimilar approved in the US.

manufacturing
therapeutics
antibodies
biosimilars
biologics