BioNTech puts a ring on Biotheus
A year after paying $55m to license Biotheus’s PD-L1/VEGF, BioNTech is going all in for $800m.
A year after paying $55m to license Biotheus’s PD-L1/VEGF, BioNTech is going all in for $800m.
PD-(L)1 x VEGF bispecifics are one of the hottest areas of oncology, and BioNTech clearly felt the need to make its union with Biotheus permanent: the company, which licensed BNT327 for $55m last November, has now bought its Chinese partner in full for $800m up front.
The focus is clearly on BNT327, with BioNTech promising “multiple” registrational trials; it has already disclosed phase 3 plans in small and non-small cell lung cancer, and triple-negative breast cancer. However, Biotheus has a large pipeline beyond BNT327, which will add to BioNTech’s already extensive oncology efforts.
Whether BioNTech is interested in any of these projects is currently unclear. A spokesperson for the company told ApexOnco that BNT327 was the key asset, but that Biotheus’s pipeline and bispecific know-how will “further strengthen” its capabilities, without giving specific details.
It’s notable that Biotheus’s pipeline includes an anti-PD-L1 x 4-1BB bispecific antibody, PM1003; BioNTech recently ended a deal with Genmab over its similarly acting contender, acasunlimab. Whether the German group plans to switch focus to PM1003, or whether it just doesn’t see a future in this approach, is a question that could be answered in the coming months.
Biotheus’s clinical-stage pipeline
| Project | Description | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| BNT327 (PM8002) | PD-L1 x VEGF MAb | Ph3 China trials ongoing; BioNTech planning global ph3s in NSCLC, SCLC & TNBC in 2024/2025; combo with BNT325 (anti-TROP2 ADC) began Jun 2024 | Closest rival is ivonescimab, licensed by Summit from Akeso for $500m in Dec 2022 |
| PM1080 | EGFR x cMET MAb | Ph2/3 China trial in 1st-line EGFRm NSCLC | Partnered with Hansoh in Greater China |
| PM1009 | TIGIT x PVRIG MAb | Ph1/2 China trial in liver cancer | Others developing TIGIT x PVRIG projects include Jiangsu Simcere & Jiangsu Hengrui |
| PM1022 | PD-L1 x TIGIT MAb | Ph1/2 China trial in solid tumours | Jury still out on TIGIT |
| PM1032 | Claudin18.2 x 4-1BB MAb | Ph1/2 China trial in solid tumours | Astellas’s CLDN18.2 MAb Vyloy approved, but efficacy questionable |
| PM8001 | PD-L1 x TGFβ MAb | Ph1 Australia trial in solid tumours | TGFβ has broadly disappointed |
| PM1003 | PD-L1 x 4-1BB MAb | Ph1 China trial in solid tumours | BioNTech ended deal on Genmab’s similarly acting acasunlimab in Aug 2024 |
| PM1015 | CD73 MAb | Ph1 China trial in solid tumours | Sanofi licensed I-Mab’s similarly acting ulelimumab in Sep 2024 |
Source: OncologyPipeline & company website.
BioNTech might also end up competing against Genmab in the EGFR x cMET arena, where Biotheus has been developing a bispecific antibody, PM1080. Genmab had a hand in the development of Johnson & Johnson’s Rybrevant, and is now taking forward a EGFR x cMET ADC, PRO1286, gained via the purchase of ProfoundBio.
Partnerships and combos
BioNTech, which is still collaborating with Genmab on several more assets, also has various other partnerships in play, with the likes of Medilink, DualityBio and OncoC4. Still, these cover ADCs and straight monoclonal antibodies, meaning they can happily coexist with the new Biotheus bispecific assets.
Indeed, BioNTech is already testing BNT327 alongside BNT325, a TROP2-targeting ADC licensed from DualityBio. More combos are in the works, and while the spokesperson declined to give further details, she added: “One of our objectives is to replace chemo with ADCs in the future.”
Wednesday’s deal is worth more up front than the $500m Summit spent on licensing Akeso’s ivonescimab, the leading PD-(L)1 x VEGF contender, but is in line with other recent tie-ups between Chinese and western companies: AstraZeneca shelled out $1bn to buy Gracell, while Bristol Myers Squibb gave SystImmune $800m for its EGFR and HER3-targeting ADC izalontamab brengitecan.
BNT327 is the obvious highlight in BioNTech’s largely underwhelming oncology pipeline, so the Biotheus buyout makes sense. However, one question is why BioNTech chose to pull the trigger now, when it already had ex-China rights to BNT327. Given the current excitement over PD-(L)1 VEGFs, perhaps another suitor was interested.
Or perhaps BioNTech decided that, rather than paying over $1bn in milestones for just BNT327, as per the original deal, it would get all that Biotheus had to offer for a similar sum. One question now is what BioNTech is planning for the rest of that pipeline.
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