Astellas and Ambrx collaborate in up to $300 oncology deal; Teijin takes stake in Kyorin

Japanese drug major Astellas Pharma (TYO: 4503) has entered into a collaboration with venture capital backed US biotech firm Ambrx for the discovery and development of novel antibody drug conjugates (ADCs).

Under the terms of the deal, Ambrx will receive an upfront payment of $15 million from Astellas, as well as up to $285 million in potential near and long-term research, development, regulatory and sales-based milestones for an undisclosed number of targets for ADCs in oncology. A portion of these milestones, as well as royalties on any net sales, will be contingent on eventual successful commercialization of products developed as a result of this partnership. For its part, Astellas will receive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize ADCs for oncology. Additional terms of the collaboration are not disclosed at this time.

ADCs allow for the targeted delivery of drugs to the target tissue. Ambrx creates optimized ADCs using its site-specific conjugation technology along with proprietary linkers and payloads. In the preclinical setting, Ambrx ADCs have demonstrated high potency and a wider therapeutic index than ADCs created using conventional non-specific conjugation.