BEIJING & PRAGUE -- Biocytogen (HKEX: 02315), a global biotech company dedicated to discovering and developing novel antibody therapeutics, announced the licensing of its fully human antibodies to SOTIO Biotech, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company owned by PPF Group. The licensing agreement will advance the development of an innovative antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting a novel tumor antigen, under the option and license agreement established between the companies. Biocytogen’s fully human antibody will support the development of SOT109, SOTIO’s new ADC candidate aimed at the treatment of colorectal cancer and other gastrointestinal (GI) cancers.

Biocytogen’s innovative RenMice® platform offers an extensive library of fully human antibodies targeting over 1,000 antigens, with over 400,000 off-the-shelf antibody sequences. The RenMab™ platform is specifically engineered to generate high-quality monoclonal antibodies characterized by strong immune responses, high affinity, and high specificity, without the need for additional in vitro humanization, leading to substantial time and cost savings in downstream development, expediting the development and translation of cutting-edge bispecific, multispecific antibodies, and ADC therapies.

“We are thrilled to see the remarkable progress achieved through our collaboration with SOTIO,” said Yuelei Shen, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Biocytogen. “The fully human monoclonal antibodies developed using our RenMab™ platform exhibit exceptional binding and internalization capabilities, along with excellent developability. By utilizing Synaffix’s platform and combining it with SOTIO’s extensive experience in ADC development, SOT109 has been developed as a highly promising candidate, offering new hope for the treatment of colorectal and other GI cancers.”

“SOT109 holds tremendous promise as a transformative treatment for colorectal cancer and other GI cancers, marking the next milestone from our innovative ADC platform. Our collaboration with Biocytogen has been instrumental in identifying a fully human and selective mAb candidate that demonstrates excellent cross-species reactivity, binding affinity, and internalization properties,” said Martin Steegmaier, Ph.D., chief scientific officer of SOTIO. “We are now in the final stages of clinical candidate selection for the program, and plan to commence IND-enabling studies this month.”

Under the terms of the agreement, SOTIO will pay Biocytogen an option exercise fee at license execution. Biocytogen will also be eligible to receive success-dependent development and regulatory milestone payments, commercial milestone payments, and low single-digit royalties on net sales.