iBio has expanded its cardiometabolic and obesity treatment development programme by in-licensing IBIO-600, a long-acting anti-myostatin antibody from AstralBio.
IBIO-600 was identified by AstralBio using iBio’s proprietary technology stack. It is designed for subcutaneous administration with the potential for an extended half-life.
Under the agreement, AstralBio will receive a $750,000 upfront payment from US-based iBio, paid in common stock.
AstralBio is also eligible for up to $28m in development and commercialisation milestone payments.
If iBio sublicenses the product, AstralBio will receive low to mid-single-digit sublicense fees.
Furthermore, iBio will handle all research, development, manufacturing, and commercialisation activities of the licensed product.
Parallelly, iBio launched a bispecific antibody programme targeting myostatin/activin A for obesity and cardiometabolic disorders.
This programme leverages iBio’s proprietary Drug Discovery Platform and the technology behind IBIO-600.
The latest licensing agreement and planned myostatin/activin A bispecific antibody programme follows a collaboration with AstralBio, started less than a year ago.
The biotechnology firm plans to begin clinical trials for obesity and cardiometabolic disorders in 2026.
iBio CEO and chief scientific officer Martin Brenner said: “The rapid advancement of a highly differentiated and developable anti-myostatin antibody in just seven months from inception to dosing in a non-human-primate study is a testament to the power and speed of our Drug Discovery Platform and our collaboration with AstralBio to deliver results quickly.
“Our goal is to develop therapeutics that offer patients quality weight loss by reducing obesity, preserving muscle mass, and promoting muscle growth while avoiding weight regain.
“Adding a novel myostatin/activin A bispecific antibody expands our pipeline of obesity drug candidates and has potential as a treatment for several additional cardiometabolic disorders.”
In preclinical studies, IBIO-600 has shown inhibition of myostatin in human muscle cell precursors, effectively promoting muscle growth.
According to the American biotech company, the asset is engineered to bind the FcRn receptor with over 10 times the affinity of normal IgG and has the potential for reduced dosing frequency.
The molecule is advancing into non-cGMP in vivo studies in rodents and non-human primates, with data expected in early 2025.
iBio will leverage its proprietary Drug Discovery Platform, including machine learning, epitope-steering, and advanced mammalian display, to rapidly develop additional multispecific antibodies targeting the TGF-beta superfamily.
