MediLink Therapeutics, announced today that it has entered into a strategic research collaboration and worldwide license agreement with BioNTech SE, a next generation immunotherapy company pioneering novel therapies for cancer and other serious diseases, on the development of a next-generation antibody-drug conjugate candidate (“ADC”), against Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 3 (HER3).
Under the terms of the agreement, MediLink will grant BioNTech exclusive global rights for the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of one of MediLink’s ADC assets excluding Mainland China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and Macau Special Administrative Region. In exchange, BioNTech will provide MediLink with an upfront payment totaling of $70m and additional development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments potentially totaling over $1 billion. The completion of the agreement is subject to customary closing conditions, including clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (“HSR”) Antitrust Improvements Act.
HER3 is a target that is overexpressed in various cancer types, such as non-small cell lung cancer and breast cancer and is closely associated with tumor metastasis and disease progression. Furthermore, HER3 expression is upregulated after frontline drug therapy, making it an adequate target for cancer treatment.
MediLink’s ADC candidate has demonstrated encouraging efficacy and safety in various preclinical tumor models through the utilization of MediLink’s TMALIN technology, and preliminary clinical data further supports the conceptual validation of this candidate.
