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On June 28, 2022, Astellas Pharma ("Astellas") and Sutro Biopharma ("Sutro") jointly announced that the two parties have reached a global strategic cooperation and licensing agreement to jointly develop Novel immunostimulatory antibody drug conjugates (iADC). This cooperation will make full use of the advantages of both Astellas and Sutro in the drug field to accelerate the development and research of three target drugs for iADC; Sutro will screen and identify candidate compounds based on its own technology platform, and Astellas will conduct clinical development and commercial production. . Under the terms of the agreement, Sutro will receive an upfront cash payment of $90 million to develop three iADCs and is eligible to receive up to $422.5 million in development, regulatory and commercial milestones for each candidate, as well as tiered royalties. Free . Sutro has the right to choose to share with Astellas the costs and profits related to the commercial development stage of a certain candidate compound in the United States; if Sutro exercises this option on a specific candidate compound, Astellas and Sutro will also jointly share the costs and profits of development in the United States. and commercial profit/loss.
iADC was developed on Sutro's unique XpressCF+ platform and is designed to deliver two different drugs directly to tumors, not only killing tumor cells but also triggering a local immune response to the patient's specific tumor cells. In addition to activating immune molecules, iADCs also combine antibodies with small molecule compounds that induce immune cell death to further enhance anti-cancer effects.
immunostimulatory antibody drug conjugate, also known as ISAC, activates immune killing and treatment sensitivity by adjusting immune stimulation and microenvironment , and has the ability to transform cold tumors into immune hot tumors. In terms of mechanism of action, ISAC is more like a dual antibody, which enhances the immune response and reduces the toxicity of small molecule immune stimulants. In terms of target selection, compared with traditional ADCs that use toxins, ISAC can be expanded to more targets. tumor-associated antigen ; in terms of endocytosis, compared with traditional ADCs that mediate endocytosis through target antigens, ISAC mediates endocytosis through FcγR on the surface of immune cells and plays a role in activating immune cells. Some representative drugs are summarized as follows:
Sutro is a clinical-stage company dedicated to developing new cancer treatments, including antibody drug conjugates, bispecific antibodies, and cytokine -based therapies targeting immune-oncology and autoimmune pathways. treatment method. In December 2021, Tasly announced a cooperation with Sutro to obtain the exclusive development and commercialization rights of STRO-002, an ADC drug targeting folate receptor α (FRα), in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan; previously, Sutro and Merck , BMS, Vaxcyte, Yehui Pharmaceuticals, etc. have all reached partnerships.
Sutro CEO William J. Newell said: "We are pleased to partner with Astellas, a premier biopharmaceutical company with deep expertise in immuno-oncology, to develop iADC. "The promise of iADCs will extend far beyond ADCs. Sutro's unique combination The technology achieves a double coupling that site-specifically combines a potent cytotoxin that directly kills tumor cells and an immunostimulatory component that has the potential to trigger local targeting of patient-specific tumor cells. immune response. We look forward to collaborating to explore the potential of this approach to treat tumors and bring new drug therapies to patients who have failed to respond to existing immunotherapies."
Astellas Chief Strategy Officer Naoki Okamura commented: "Astellas will bring immuno-oncology to the forefront. Considered one of the main focuses of its R&D strategy; our goal is to bring effective medicines to patients who have not responded to existing immune checkpoint inhibitors. Sutro is a leading company in the field of iADCs with its own original iADC technology. The strategic cooperation will help us expand our existing pipeline and broaden the options for cancer immunotherapy.”
The picture below shows the project status of Astellas’ key areas:
