Biocytogen Enters into Antibody Agreement with Ona Therapeutics to Develop Antibody-Drug Conjugates Targeting Solid Tumors

BEIJING & BARCELONA, Spain -- Businesswire -- Biocytogen Pharmaceuticals (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (“Biocytogen”, HKEX: 02315), a global biotech company focusing on the discovery and development of novel antibody therapeutics, today announces an antibody evaluation, option and license agreement with Ona Therapeutics (“Ona”), a Spanish biotech company specialized in unravelling novel biology to design biopharmaceuticals attacking advanced cancer.

Under the terms of the agreement, Biocytogen will grant Ona access to evaluate Biocytogen’s proprietary RenMice®-derived fully human antibodies against a specific tumor target, with an option to exclusively license selected antibodies for antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) development, manufacturing and commercialization in mutually agreed indications and territories.

Biocytogen will receive an upfront payment for granting the option, and will be further entitled to an option-exercise fee, development and commercialization milestone payments, as well as single-digit royalties on net sales once Ona elects to exercise the option in full.

Dr. Yuelei Shen, President and CEO of Biocytogen, said: “As part of Project Integrum, Biocytogen has been discovering fully human antibodies against 200 TAA targets based on their internalization activity. We are honored that Ona, among other global biopharmaceutical companies, recognizes the potential of our proprietary off-the-shelf antibodies. We believe Ona’s deep understanding of novel mechanisms of resistance in advanced cancer and their capabilities in ADC design and development will accelerate the development of our antibodies into promising therapeutics.”

Dr. Valerie Vanhooren, CEO & co-founder of Ona, said: “We look forward to evaluating Biocytogen’s proprietary antibodies for ADC uses. We believe the combination of Biocytogen’s rich antibody repertoire with Ona’s unique insight in advanced cancer biology will have great advantages in the discovering and developing of first-in-class molecules for unmet medical needs.”

About Biocytogen

Biocytogen (HKEX: 02315) is a global biotechnology company that drives the research and development of novel antibody-based drugs with innovative technologies. Founded on gene editing technology, Biocytogen leverages genetically engineered proprietary RenMice® (RenMab®/RenLite®/RenNano®/RenTCR-mimic™) platforms for fully human monoclonal/bispecific/multispecific antibody discovery, bispecific antibody-drug conjugate discovery, nanobody discovery and TCR-mimic antibody discovery, and has established an off-the-shelf library of >400,000 fully human antibody sequences against approximately 1000 targets for worldwide collaboration. As of June 30, 2023, 50 therapeutic antibody and multiple clinical asset co-development/out-licensing/transfer agreements and 42 target-nominated RenMice® licensing projects have been established around the globe, including several partnerships with multinational pharmaceutical companies (MNCs). Biocytogen pioneered the generation of drug target knock-in humanized models for preclinical research, and currently provides a few thousand off-the-shelf animal and cell models under the company’s sub-brand, BioMice®, along with preclinical pharmacology and gene-editing services for clients worldwide. Headquartered in Beijing, Biocytogen has branches in China (Haimen Jiangsu, Shanghai), USA (Boston, San Francisco), and Germany (Heidelberg). For more information, please visit http://en.biocytogen.com.cn.

About Ona Therapeutics

Ona, headquartered in the Barcelona Science Park (PCB), Barcelona, Spain, is a biotech company that specializes in unravelling novel biology to design first-in-class biopharmaceuticals attacking advanced cancer. The company was founded in 2019 as a spin-off from ICREA and the IRB Institute for Research in Biomedicine. In 2020, Ona raised a EUR 30 million Series A investment round from an international syndicate of life sciences specialist investors. Ona was named by Fierce Biotech as one of 2020’s Fierce 15 biotechnology companies. For more information please visit: www.ona-therapeutics.com.

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