Amgen and Synaffix sign licensing agreement worth up to $2bn

Amgen and Synaffix, a Dutch biotech, have signed a licensing agreement to develop next generation antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), with Synaffix eligible to receive up to $2bn plus tiered royalties on commercial sales.

As part of the agreement, Amgen will be granted rights to utilise Synaffix’s proprietary ADC technologies, GlycoConnect and HydraSpace, as well as select toxSYN linker-payloads for one ADC programme.

The company will also have the option to exercise exclusive research and commercial licences for an additional four programmes at a later date.

Amgen will be responsible for the research, development, manufacturing and commercialisation of the ADCs, with Synaffix continuing to hold responsibility for the manufacturing of components specifically related to its technologies.

Peter van de Sande, chief executive officer of Synaffix, said: “Synaffix is pleased to partner with Amgen to enable novel ADC product development that will aid in the transformation of cancer treatment.”

Last month, Amgen signed a research and collaboration agreement worth up to $1.25bn with LegoChem Biosciences, which granted the company rights to research, develop and commercialise up to five ADC options based on itsConjuAll ADC technology.

Earlier this month, Synaffix entered into a licensing agreement with Hummingbird Bioscience, which has also been given access to the company’s ADC technologies.

Under the terms of the agreement with Hummingbird Bio’s, Synaffix will be eligible to receive up to $150m, including upfront and milestone payments, plus royalties on net sales.

“By combining our ADC technology platform with Hummingbird Bio’s next-generation portfolio of precision therapeutics we can further contribute towards the transformation of cancer treatment,” van de Sande said at the time of the announcement.

The business model of Synaffix is target-specific technology out-licensing, shown through its existing deals with ADC Therapeutics, Mersana Therapeutics, Shanghai Miracogen, Innovent Biologics, ProfoundBio, Kyowa Kirin, Genmab, Macrogenics and Emergence Therapeutics.

The combination of the companies’ three technologies provides developers with, as Synaffix describes, a ‘one-stop’ and easy-to-use ADC technology platform, allowing antibody developers to develop their own proprietary ADC and expand their pipeline further.