Boehringer Ingelheim Inks Up-to-$7.4B+ Cancer Drug Collaboration with Sino Biopharmaceutical

Boehringer Ingelheim has launched an up-to-$7.358 billion-plus second collaboration with Sino Biopharmaceutical (SBP Group) to develop next-generation cancer therapies based on antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) and T-cell engager (TcE) technologies.

The companies have signed a strategic multi-program option and license agreement designed to deepen their existing partnership in oncology, which encompasses three Boehringer-developed cancer treatments and was launched in 2024.

The latest collaboration will encompass six biologic preclinical programs. Five programs focus on treatments originating with a wholly owned SBP Group subsidiary, LaNova Medicines. The sixth comes from another SBP Group subsidiary, Beijing Tide Pharmaceutical.

The collaboration is intended to marry SBP Group’s platforms and early-development capabilities with Boehringer Ingelheim’s global oncology.

“Our partnership with SBP Group brings together complementary science to broaden our development portfolio of antibody-drug conjugates and T-cell engagers. It puts our China strategy into action by connecting innovation from China with our global research and development capabilities,” Paola Casarosa, Member of the Board of Managing Directors and Head of the Innovation Unit at Boehringer Ingelheim, said in a statement.

Under the agreement, SBP Group has agreed to oversee early development. After unspecified clinical milestones are reached, Boehringer Ingelheim may exercise options for exclusive development, manufacturing, and commercialization rights. Those rights may be exercised outside China, Hong Kong, and Macau for four of the programs, and worldwide for the remaining two.

Boehringer Ingelheim has agreed to pay SBP Group upfront and near-term payments totaling $358 million, and up to $7 billion tied to achieving option-exercise, development, regulatory, and commercial milestones of US$7 billion. Boehringer Ingelheim also agreed to pay SBP Group tiered royalties on potential future product sales.

Boehringer Ingelheim said the collaboration added to its efforts intended to build a broad and differentiated oncology portfolio spanning cancer cell-directed therapies and immuno-oncology. The companies reason that their latest partnership will offer opportunities to further the ADC and T-cell engager portfolio through multiple programs and technology approaches.

Investors sent SBP Group shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange rising 5% on the news, from HKD 4.885 (61 cents) to HKD 5.15 (65 cents). Boehringer Ingelheim is privately held.

Commitment to China

For Boehringer Ingelheim, the latest partnership with SBP Group underscores what it said was a strengthened commitment to China’s growing innovation ecosystem. In October, Boehringer Ingelheim opened its China R&D Center in Zhangjiang, Shanghai designed to expand its early clinical development and external innovation capabilities by connecting its global R&D network with innovation in China.

Boehringer Ingelheim and China-based SBP Group launched their first cancer-focused collaboration in April 2024, when SBP agreed to develop three oncology drugs originating with the Germany-based Boehringer:

• Brigimadlin (BI 907828)—A mouse double minute 2 (MDM2)-p53 antagonist whose development was halted by Boehringer Ingelheim in all indications last year after the drug failed the 400-patient Phase II/III Brightline-1 trial (NCT05218499). Brigimadlin missed its primary endpoint of progression-free survival (PFS) in the trial, which compared the drug to doxorubicin in dedifferentiated liposarcoma.
• Obrixtamig (BI 764532)—A delta-like canonical Notch ligand 3/cluster of differentiation 3 (DLL3/CD3) bispecific T-cell engager. Obrixtamig is under study in the Phase II DAREON-5 trial (NCT05882058), a dose selection and expansion trial designed to assess the drug in relapsed/refractory small cell lung cancer (SCLC), extrapulmonary neuroendocrine carcinoma (epNEC), and large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the lung (LCNEC-L). Last month at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Madrid, Boehringer Ingelheim shared positive data from the Phase Ib DAREON-9 trial (NCT05990738) evaluating obrixtamig plus chemo drug topotecan in adults with extensive stage small cell lung cancer.

• Zongertinib—A selective human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) inhibitor that covalently binds to the tyrosine kinase domain (TKD) of both wild type and mutated HER2 receptors, including those with an exon 20 mutation. Boehringer reasons that improved selectivity of a HER2 tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) may yield improved tolerability and efficacy. Zongertinib is under study in the Phase III Beamion LUNG-3 trial (NCT07195695) comparing the drug to standard adjuvant treatment in adults with completely resected Stage II-IIIB NSCLC whose tumors have activating HER2 tyrosine kinase domain (TKD) mutations.

“Our second partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim marks an important milestone in SBP Group’s international innovation strategy and further validates our scientific capabilities in next-generation oncology,” stated Theresa Tse, Chairwoman of SBP Group. “By combining our innovative platforms and early-development capabilities with Boehringer Ingelheim’s global oncology expertise, we aim to maximize the potential of these programs and bring innovative treatment options to patients worldwide.”

“We will continue to expand our global partner network and contribute high-quality innovation from China to global healthcare,” Tse added.

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