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Daiichi Sankyo to buy cancer antibody from Glycotope for $132.5 million

Daiichi Sankyo will buy outright a cancer antibody it had licensed from Glycotope GmbH earlier for $132.5 million, according to a statement from the Japanese company.
Image Credit: Daiichi Sankyo.

HQ Team

January 15, 2025:  Daiichi Sankyo will buy outright a cancer antibody it had licensed from Glycotope GmbH earlier for $132.5 million, according to a statement from the Japanese company.

The amount to acquire intellectual property rights of the antitumor-associated mucin-1 (TA-MUC1) antibody, gatipotuzumab, includes royalties and milestone payments, according to the statement.

In 2018, Daiichi signed a licensing pact with the Berlin-headquartered immuno-oncology company to develop and commercialise gatipotuzumab globally as an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC).

The anti-TA-MUC1 is the antibody in DS-3939, an antibody-drug conjugate developed by Daiichi Sankyo. DS-3939 is a specifically engineered TA-MUC1-directed medicine designed using Daiichi Sankyo’s proprietary DXd ADC technology.

Clinical trials

DS-3939 is currently being evaluated in phase 1 and 2 clinical trials in patients with several types of advanced solid tumours, including non-small cell lung, breast, urothelial, ovarian, biliary tract and pancreatic cancer.

The Daiichi Sankyo ADC portfolio consists of seven ADCs in clinical development crafted from two distinct ADC technology platforms discovered in-house by Daiichi Sankyo.

ADC is a substance made up of a monoclonal antibody chemically linked to a drug. 

The monoclonal antibody binds to specific proteins or receptors found on certain types of cells, including cancer cells. The linked drug enters these cells and kills them without harming other cells. Some antibody-drug conjugates are used to treat cancer.

Hotspot of cancer research

ADCs have become one of the hotspots for the research and development of anticancer drugs. 

Since the first ADC, Mylotarg (gemtuzumab ozogamicin), was approved in 2000 by the US Food and Drug Administration, there have been 14 ADCs received market approval so far worldwide. 

Moreover, over 100 ADC candidates have been investigated in clinical stages at present. This kind of new anti-cancer drugs, known as “biological missiles”, is leading a new era of targeted cancer therapy.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, accounting for an estimated 9.6 million deaths, or 1 in 6 deaths, in 2018. 

FDA grants priority review

Lung, prostate, colorectal, stomach and liver cancer are the most common types of cancer in men, while breast, colorectal, lung, cervical and thyroid cancer are the most common among women, according to the World Health Organization.

In a separate statement, the Tokyo-headquartered Daiichi stated that the FDA had granted priority review in the US for its drug datopotamab deruxtecan, an antibody-drug conjugate.

Deruxtecan is being jointly developed by Daiichi and AstraZeneca for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic epidermal growth factor receptor-mutated (EGFR-mutated) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in adults who have received prior systemic therapies, including an EGFR-directed therapy.