On September 4, 2024 – EpimAb Biotherapeutics, Inc. ("EpimAb" or "EpimAb Biotherapeutics") a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company specializing in the discovery and development of multi-specific antibodies for diseases with high unmet need, and Vignette Bio, Inc. ("Vignette" or "Vignette Bio") a clinical stage company incubated by Foresite Labs and backed by Foresite Capital, Qiming Venture Partners USA, Samsara BioCapital, and Mirae Asset Capital Life Science, announced today that EpimAb and Vignette have entered into a license agreement for EpimAb’s BCMA-targeting T-cell engager (TCE) EMB-06 (Press release, EpimAb Biotherapeutics, SEP 4, 2024, View Source [SID1234648258]).
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Under this agreement, EpimAb will grant Vignette the exclusive rights to develop and commercialize EMB-06 outside of Greater China (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan), while EpimAb shall retain the rights to EMB-06 in Greater China. EpimAb will receive total upfront considerations of $60 million in cash and equity of Vignette, and will be eligible to receive up to $575 million development, regulatory and commercial milestones, plus royalties on net sales.
"EpimAb is excited to enter into this partnership with Vignette on EMB-06, which is well positioned to realize the potential of EMB-06," said Dr. Chengbin Wu, CEO and founder of EpimAb. "EMB-06 is the first candidate developed with our proprietary T-cell engager platform and has shown promising clinical activity when evaluated in patients with multiple myeloma. We look forward to evaluating the potential of EMB-06 in autoimmune diseases."
"Emerging clinical data using B-cell depletion in autoimmune diseases has shown compelling results," said Michael Rome, managing director at Foresite Capital and lead investor of Vignette. "EMB-06 is a promising clinical asset and we look forward to building a leading company focused on T-cell engagers for autoimmune diseases."
EMB-06 is the first TCE developed within EpimAb’s T-cell engager platform, which combines EpimAb’s proprietary FIT-Ig bispecific platform and CD3 binder panel, and EpimAb’s in-house discovery and antibody engineering expertise. This allows EpimAb to quickly generate and screen a suite of engagers in the discovery stage for diseases of interest, and advance TCE candidates that could provide the optimal efficacy and safety profile into the pre-IND and clinical stages.