According to the announcement by CSPC Pharma (01093), its wholly-owned subsidiary, Shanghai Jinmant Bio-Tech Co., Ltd. (Jinmant Bio), has entered into an exclusive license agreement with Jiangsu Conring Jerey Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Jiangsu Conring Jerey) on September 29, 2024, to develop, sell, promise to sell, and commercialize JSKN003 (a dual-site HER2-targeted antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)) for the treatment of oncology indications.

Under the terms of the agreement, Jinmant Bio will obtain the exclusive license and sublicensing rights to develop, sell, promise to sell, and commercialize the product, bear all clinical development expenses, and become the only marketing authorization holder for the product in the region.

As part of the agreement, Jinmant Bio agrees to pay Jiangsu Conning Jerry a down payment of RMB 0.4 billion and a maximum of RMB 0.83 billion in development and regulatory milestone payments according to the development progress of the product in the region. Jinmant Bio also agrees to pay Jiangsu Conning Jerry a potential sales milestone payment of up to RMB 1.85 billion based on the net sales achieved by the product in the region in the field, as well as a tiered sales commission in double digits.

The product is a dual-site HER2-targeted ADC, which uses glycoengineering to link a topoisomerase I inhibitor to the N-glycosylation site of the antibody KN026 (recombinant humanized anti-HER2 bispecific antibody). The click reaction conjugate has better serum stability compared to the maleimide-Michael reaction conjugate. The dual-site HER2 targeting enables the product to have stronger internalization induction and bystander killing effects, giving it potent antitumor activity in HER2-expressing tumors. Currently, the product is undergoing Phase I clinical studies in Australia, Phase I/II and Phase III clinical studies in China.