Samsung Bioepis signs full agreement with Intocell on ADC drug candidate SBE303

Samsung Bioepis has signed a full commercialization and research-and-development agreement with domestic biotech venture Intocell for an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) drug candidate the two companies have been co-developing.

Samsung Bioepis announced Wednesday that the two companies had concluded a full contract for SBE303, the first candidate to emerge from their joint ADC drug development project. The deal marks the first concrete outcome of a joint research agreement the two signed in December 2023 to identify up to five ADC drug candidates.

SBE303 is a solid tumor treatment candidate targeting the Nectin-4 protein and is currently undergoing a global Phase 1 trial. Nectin-4 is a cell-surface protein overexpressed in multiple cancer types, including urothelial carcinoma, breast cancer and lung cancer, and is considered well suited for ADC technology, which selectively destroys cancer cells.

The contract includes development and sales milestones — fees tied to research and development achievements — as well as royalties based on sales. The specific contract value and detailed terms will remain undisclosed by mutual agreement.

Samsung Bioepis presented preclinical data on SBE303 at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in April, confirming that the candidate showed improved antibody-tumor cell binding specificity and intracellular drug delivery efficiency compared with existing Nectin-4-targeting anticancer drugs.

Kim Kyung-ah, president of Samsung Bioepis, said the agreement is "an important milestone for Samsung Bioepis as it expands its business into the next-generation anticancer drug field through collaboration with a domestic company," adding that the company would "continue to drive research and development innovation to address diverse unmet medical needs."

Park Tae-gyo, chief executive of Intocell, said he hopes "Intocell's linker platform technology will generate meaningful results in the global market," and pledged to "maintain close collaboration with Samsung Bioepis so that the follow-on programs currently progressing well can also bear good fruit."