Glenmark arm nets Rs 180 cr in licensing deal for autoimmune antibody

ISB 880 has the potential to treat underserved patients across a range of autoimmune dermatological diseases

Glenmark subsidiary Ichnos Sciences, a biotechnology company that develops biologics in oncology and autoimmune diseases, has licensed the commercialisation rights of a monoclonal antibody for autoimmune diseases to Almirall for €20.8 million (around Rs 180 crore).

Under the agreement, Almirall is granted global rights to develop and commercialise the ISB 800 molecule. However, Ichnos will retain rights for antibodies acting on the  IL-1RAP pathway for oncology indications. Ichnos will receive an upfront payment of €20.8 million as well as additional development and commercial milestone payments and tiered royalties based upon future global sales.

“This is our eighth out-licensing deal in the last two decades during which we have made $250-$300 million by licensing our IPs to global partners,” Glenn Saldanha, CEO and MD of Glenmark, told Business Standard.

ISB 880 is a first-in-class fully human, high affinity monoclonal antibody that targets human IL-1RAP. Blockade of IL-1RAP  simultaneously abrogates multiple disease drivers among the IL-1 family of proinflammatory cytokine receptors, including IL 1R, IL-33R, and IL-36R, differentiating ISB 880 from single cytokine blockade therapies. These cytokines have been  implicated in numerous autoimmune conditions, opening opportunities for ISB 880 to be positioned across broad disease indications.

“Given its novel mechanism of action, we believe that ISB 880 has great potential to treat underserved patients across a range of autoimmune dermatological diseases,” said Karl Ziegelbauer, Chief Scientific Officer of Almirall.

“We look forward to  beginning to work on ISB 880 and based on the significant data generated by Ichnos we plan to initiate the first-in-human study in the first half of 2022,” he added.

“This is an exciting step forward for Ichnos as we enhance our focus on oncology and accelerate the pipeline of multispecific antibodies based on our proprietary, BEAT platform,” said Cyril Konto, CEO of Ichnos. “ISB 880 anti IL-1RAP antagonist illustrates Ichnos’ core capabilities in biologics discovery and manufacturing, as well as its strategy to  advance a pipeline with potential first- or best-in-class assets,” he added.