(Yicai) June 3 -- German multinational biotechnology company BioNTech said it has initiated a collaboration with its US peer Bristol Myers Squibb to jointly develop and commercialize a China-made cancer drug it acquired last year.

BioNTech and BMS will co-develop and co-commercialize BioNTech's investigational bispecific antibody BNT327 across numerous solid tumor types, the pair announced yesterday.

BNT327, a next-generation bispecific antibody candidate targeting PD-L1 and VEGF-A, is being evaluated in multiple ongoing trials, with more than 1,000 patients treated to date, including global Phase III trials with registrational potential evaluating BNT327 as first-line treatment in extensive stage small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.

BioNTech acquired BNT327's developer Biotheus for USD800 million, with additional milestone payments of up to USD150 million, in November last year to strengthen its oncology drug pipeline. The agreement gave BioNTech the rights to Biotheus' pipeline of drug candidates and its bispecific antibody drug development platform.

"We believe BNT327 has the potential to become a foundational immuno-oncology backbone, moving beyond single-mechanism checkpoint inhibitors and expanding into multiple solid-tumor indications," said Ugur Sahin, managing director, chief executive officer, and co-founder of BioNTech. "Our collaboration with BMS, a pioneering leader in immuno-oncology, aims to accelerate and broadly expand BNT327's development to fully realize its potential."

"The science behind BNT327 and its leading clinical position in multiple hard-to-treat tumor types, further bolsters our pursuit of novel mechanisms and multiple modalities in oncology, and enhances our growth trajectory," said Christopher Boerner, CEO of BMS. "We are impressed by the innovation that BioNTech has achieved to date, and we look forward to partnering to accelerate existing clinical trials and time to market, while expanding the number of potential indications."

According to the deal, BMS will pay BioNTech USD1.5 billion upfront payment and USD2 billion total in non-contingent anniversary payments through 2028. Moreover, BioNTech will be eligible to receive up to USD7.6 billion in additional development, regulatory, and commercial milestones.

The pair will share joint development and manufacturing costs on a 50:50 basis, subject to certain expectations. Global profits or losses will also be equally shared.

PD-L1/VEGF bispecific antibody drugs have become a hit in the research and development of the pharmaceutical industry.

The large number of licensing deals shows that Chinese companies are leading the research and development of PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibodies, a biopharmaceutical investor told Yicai. Akeso's latest Phase-III clinical data is also positive.

Editor: Futura Costaglione