I am Biologics Signs Trillion-Won License Deal with US Navigator Medicine

IMBioLogics announced on the 17th that it has signed a license-out agreement with the U.S. company Navigator Medicine for IMB-101, a bispecific antibody-based autoimmune disease treatment currently in Phase 1 clinical trials.

IMB-101 is a key pipeline (new drug candidate) of IMBioLogics, a bispecific antibody drug that simultaneously targets OX40L and tumor necrosis factor (TNF). It is currently undergoing Phase 1 clinical trials in the United States. The trial is designed as a hybrid form, consisting of a single-dose Phase 1a trial in healthy adults and a multiple-dose Phase 1b trial in patients.

The dosing for the Phase 1a trial will be completed soon, and the Phase 1b trial involving patients is scheduled to begin in the second half of the year. Due to the mechanism of action of the compound, it is expected that the indication can be expanded to various autoimmune diseases. IMB-102, IMBioLogics’ monospecific antibody pipeline targeting only OX40L, is also included in this agreement.

According to IMBioLogics, the licensed territory is global (including Japan) excluding Asia. The upfront payment without any return obligation is a total of 20 million USD, and milestone payments based on development and commercialization stages will amount to up to 924.75 million USD (approximately 1.3 trillion KRW).

IMBioLogics is an antibody drug research and development bio-venture established in August 2020. Last year, it raised 20 billion KRW in a Series B funding round, and after about three years since its founding, it signed its first license deal during the IMB-101 clinical trial process in the U.S. Hyung-sik Ha, CEO of IMBioLogics, stated, “We trust Navigator Medicine’s capabilities and experience in the autoimmune disease field. We will work closely together to successfully launch IMB-101 and IMB-102 in the market and strive to become a company that improves patients’ lives.”

Stefan Thomas, CEO of Navigator Medicine, said, “We are very pleased to start this partnership with IMBioLogics, which is developing top-tier OX40L-targeting antibody therapeutics based on excellent development experience and capabilities,” and added, “We plan to continue developing IMB-101 and IMB-102 to provide them to patients as quickly as possible.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.