Zai Lab stepping into liquid cancers with Regeneron deal

Shanghai's Zai Lab is adding a blood cancer drug to its pipeline through a licensing deal with Regeneron, one of the U.S. biotechs busy developing therapies against Covid-19.

The Nasdaq-listed Chinese biotech will help develop and commercialize REGN1979, a bispecific antibody, for the China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau market. Under the terms of the deal, Zai Lab is paying $30 million upfront and potentially up to another $160 million if the therapy meets certain regulatory and commercial milestones.

REGN1979, also known as odronextamab, is Zai Lab's second bispecific antibody, but its first entry into liquid tumor malignancies.

"Historically, we have been very much focused on solid tumors," Samantha Du, Zai Lab's founder, chair, and CEO, told STAT from her base in Boston. "But I think it's very important for us to expand horizontally into hematological cancers and to leverage our existing capabilities."

REGN1979 targets and binds to CD20 on lymphoma cells and CD3 on cytotoxic T cells, linking them together for tumor-killing interactions. The new collaboration will see Zai Lab supporting the drug's global clinical development, starting with an ongoing Phase 2 study, potentially a registrational trial for treating patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Zai Lab and Regeneron aren't the only companies pursuing bispecific antibodies targeting CD20-CD3. Two other early-stage hopefuls are Roche's mosunetuzumab and Xencor's XmAb13676.

"We believe the CD20-CD3 market opportunity could be significant in China and globally," Du said.

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