With an eye on next-gen ADCs, Johnson & Johnson will acquire San Diego-based Ambrx Biopharma in a deal valued at approximately $2 billion.
Ambrx’s proprietary antibody-drug conjugate technology incorporates the advantages of highly specific targeting monoclonal antibodies securely linked to a potent chemotherapeutic payload to achieve targeted and efficient elimination of cancer cells without the prevalent side effects typically associated with chemotherapy.
J&J says it intends to work with Ambrx researchers, accelerating the phase 1/2 APEX01 study of Ambrx's PSMA-targeting ADC, ARX517, in advanced prostate cancer, while progressing a pipeline of novel product candidates
Pharma's race to beef up its ADC pipelines heated up last year and has continued into 2024 — and J&J is not looking to get left behind. Just prior to the new year, J&J's Janssen signed a potential $1.7 billion deal to develop and commercialize LCB84, LegoChem's Trop2 directed ADC.
GSK and China-based Hansoh Pharma closed out the year by signing their second deal together, this time a potential $1.525 billion license agreement for a B7-H3 targeted ADC. Just prior to that, BMS inked a license and collaboration agreement with SystImmune for a potentially first-in-class bispecific ADC targeting both EGFR and HER3. The deal, BMS' largest of the year, could hit $8.4 billion.
Roche started 2024 with a $1 billion license agreement with China-based MediLink Therapeutics for the development of a next-generation ADC candidate targeting c-Mesenchymal epithelial transition factor (c-Met) against solid tumors.
