pharmaphorum November 13, 2024
BioNTech is clearly impressed with what it has seen with partner Biotheus’ bispecific antibody for cancer, opting to buy the company outright to get full control of the drug.
The two companies entered into a partnership a year ago to develop Biotheus’ PD-L1xVEGF-A bispecific PM8002/BNT327, with BioNTech taking rights to the drug outside Greater China, the Zhuhai-based biotech’s home market.
The antibody – which is in phase 2 testing – is viewed as a potential successor to MSD’s $25 billion PD-1 inhibitor Keytruda (pembrolizumab).
It is in the same class as Summit Therapeutics and partner Akeso’s ivonescimab, which made a splash with new data at the 2024 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) in September that showed it was more...