[press release] LegoChem Biosciences and Pyxis Enter Licensing Agreement for Antibody Drug Conjugate Program (LCB67)

LegoChem Biosciences and Pyxis Enter Licensing Agreement for Antibody Drug Conjugate Program (LCB67)

- A total of $294M including $9.5M upfront and milestone payments

- Securing an Option for sublicense revenue sharing and Pyxis’ equity

LegoChem Biosciences (141080KS, 'LCB') announced today that it has entered into a worldwide license agreement with Pyxis Oncology (hereinafter ’Pyxis’) for the development and commercialization of LCB67, an innovative antibody-drug-conjugate (ADC) candidate.

Under the terms of the agreement, Pyxis will make an upfront payment of $9.5 million plus the cost LCB has spent for clinical trial material production upon its completion next year. LCB is eligible to receive milestone payments of up to $284.5 million as well as royalties on commercial sales. In addition, LCB has a right to exercise an option for obtaining Pyxis’ equity and revenue sharing upon Pyxis’ sublicense agreement with third party companies. Payments from Pyxis though this agreement will be shared with Y-Biologics based on pre-agreed terms.

The licensed ADC program (LCB67, a DLK1-targeting ADC) is an Investigational Drug Candidate that has been generated through combining LCB’s next-generation ADC platform with anti-DLK1 antibody, which was in-licensed from Y-Biologics. DLK-1 is a novel cancer target which is associated with various solid tumors including liver and small cell lung cancers. Pyxis plans to advance this program to clinical trials for progressive solid cancers with high medical unmet needs.

Pyxis is a Boston-based biotechnology company developing first-in-class and best-in-class oncology therapeutics with a broad oncology biologics pipeline. Under the direction of its management team of experienced industry professionals and experts in the field, Pyxis is further strengthening its portfolio through this agreement with LCB.

“The members of Pyxis are industry-leading US experts who have successfully led the development of innovative new drugs, and we have a strong confidence that Pyxis will enter LCB67 into clinical trials in the most efficient manner.” said Dr. Yong-Zu Kim, CEO and President of LCB.

Dr. Lara Sullivan, CEO of Pyxis, added, ”LCB67 has significant potential to be an effective treatment for a range of indications. LegoChem’s unique ADC platform drastically improves upon existing technology to provide a highly stable therapeutic with unparalleled manufacturing consistency. Our partnership with LegoChem is crucial to advance this next generation ADC to the clinic and ultimately bring a new potential treatment option to patients.”

This agreement is the second case of LCB’s ADCs generated through successful collaboration between Korean biotech companies, first being LCB71, an anti-ROR1 ADC which was co-developed by LCB and ABL BIO and licensed to CStone Pharmaceuticals last month. This is the 4^th global licensing agreement of LCB’s ADCs this year only