Two and half years after it signed a $100 million biobucks deal with Aarvik Therapeutics to work on an undisclosed “novel oncology drug,” ArriVent BioPharma has decided to license the candidate—and confirmed that it’s an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC).
Under the original agreement, signed in December 2021, Aarvik was responsible for discovery and preclinical development of the molecule, with ArriVent set to take over when it reached human trials. While the exact payment Aarvik received upfront was not revealed, the companies said that combined with research funding, option fees and milestone payments, the biotech could be in line for $100 million, on top of royalties.
The identity of the drug was also not disclosed at the time, with the companies only saying that it would be based on Aarvik’s “unique modular platform that combines multiple target mechanisms.”
ArriVent has now handed over an opt-in fee to license the drug, which is an ADC, Aarvik announced this morning.
“Aarvik has shown that it can combine the most advanced protein engineering technologies with deep ADC drug development expertise to enable next-generation, best-in-class oncology therapies,” Aarvik’s CEO and co-founder Jagath Reddy Junutula, Ph.D., said in the release.
California-based Aarvik’s disruptive antibody engineering platforms are designed to create function-blocking antibodies, ADCs and other modalities.
“Aarvik will continue to pursue previously hard-to-treat indications through the power of its novel multi-targeting platforms,” Junutula added in today’s release.
ArriVent secured a hefty $175 million IPO at the start of the year. The Pennsylvania-based biotech’s primary mission is to bring China-developed drugs to Western markets via in-licensing deals, including securing the ex-China rights to Allist Pharmaceuticals’ EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor furmonertinib in 2021.