Bioinvent AB licences BI-1206 to CASI Pharmaceuticals

Cancer antibody specialist BioInvent International AB has granted the exclusive rights to market its anti-FcγRIIB antibody, BI-1206, in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau to the US company CASI Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Under the terms of the licence agreement, BioInvent will receive $5m upfront and up to $83m in development and commercial milestone payments plus tiered royalties in the high-single to mid-double-digit range on net sales of BI-1206. Furthermore, CASI Pharmaceuticals will also make a $7 million investment in 29,395,311 new shares in BioInvent at a subscription price of SEK 2.09 per share, which corresponds to 130 % of the average volume weighted price for the share during the ten trading days prior to 27 October, and 14,697,655  new warrants (at no separate option premium), each warrant with a right to subscribe for an equal number of new shares in BioInvent within a period of five years and at a subscription price of SEK 3.14  per share.

BI-1206 blocks the checkpoint receptor FcγRIIB to unlock anti-cancer immunit, The drug candidate is  being investigated in a Phase I/II trial, in combination with MSD’s anti-PD1 therapy pembrolizumab, in solid tumors, and in a Phase I/IIa trial in combination with Roche's rituximab for the treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).