ABL Bio (led by CEO Sang Hoon Lee), a company specializing in bispecific antibodies, announced that it will receive a USD 40 million upfront payment for a license, research, and collaboration agreement with Eli Lilly for its Grabody platform. Lilly is making a USD 15 million equity investment in ABL Bio.
Currently, ABL Bio and Lilly are working together on joint research and development for several therapeutic candidates using the Grabody platform in different treatment areas.
Along with strengthening its partnership with Lilly, ABL Bio plans to speed up research and development on its key technologies, such as the Grabody bispecific antibody platform, bispecific ADCs, and dual-payload ADCs, using the new funding.
Earlier, on November 12 and 14, ABL Bio and Lilly signed a license, research, and collaboration agreement worth USD 2.602 billion, which includes the USD 40 million upfront payment, and a USD 15 million equity investment. With these agreements, ABL Bio is exploring long-term opportunities with Lilly to develop new therapies together.
ABL Bio is working on several projects using its bispecific antibody platform, Grabody. These include both clinical and non-clinical studies. The company has 8 clinical pipelines in development, such as ABL301 (SAR446159), ABL001 (tovecimig), ABL111 (givastomig), ABL503 (ragistomig), ABL105 (YH32367), ABL104 (YH32364), ABL103, and ABL202 (CS5001/LCB71). These projects are aimed at treating different diseases in countries like the United States, China, Australia, and Korea.
Executive Statement
According to Sang Hoon Lee, CEO of ABL Bio, with the completion of the relevant administrative procedures, including the HSR Act, ABL Bio will receive the upfront payment and equity investment from Lilly. The company plans to use the newly secured funding to expand the indications of its Grabody platform into high-unmet-need areas such as obesity and muscle disorders. ABL Bio also intends to extend clinical development of its bispecific immuno-oncology candidates into combination therapies and focus on advancing next-generation ADC programs.
