Roche expands Hansoh ADC collaboration

Roche has expanded its antibody-drug conjugate collaboration with Hansoh Pharmaceutical through an agreement covering a broad portfolio of ADC programs, according to Fierce Biotech. The partnership follows an ADC team-up announced by the companies a year earlier.

Scope of the collaboration

Hansoh said the agreement includes two ADCs already in preclinical development, as well as multiple programs focused on targets suggested by Roche and powered by Hansoh’s ADC technology. Under the planned division of work, Hansoh will advance the programs through phase 1 trials before Roche assumes responsibility for worldwide development, excluding Greater China.

Fierce Biotech reported that Hansoh will receive $400 million in upfront cash and $110 million on the first anniversary of the deal. The company could receive up to $15 billion in development, regulatory and commercialization milestones, along with tiered royalties on sales if products reach market.

The agreement also gives Hansoh an option to contribute to global development of two programs. If it chooses that route, Hansoh would be eligible for incremental commercialization upside for those programs, according to the publication.

Building on the prior agreement

The new arrangement follows Roche’s earlier ex-China license for Hansoh’s CDH17-targeted ADC, HS-20110. Fierce Biotech reported that Roche paid $80 million in the earlier transaction and committed up to $1.45 billion in potential payments.

At the time of that agreement, HS-20110 was in phase 1 testing in China and the U.S. as a potential treatment for colorectal cancer and other solid tumors, Fierce Biotech reported.

Commercial context

For medical sales professionals tracking oncology partnerships, the collaboration outlines a staged development model: Hansoh is planned to lead early clinical advancement through phase 1, while Roche would take responsibility for worldwide development outside Greater China.

Fierce Biotech characterized the pact as spanning both Hansoh-originated preclinical ADCs and programs based on Roche-suggested targets, placing Hansoh’s ADC technology at the center of the expanded collaboration.