IGI Therapeutics SA, a wholly owned subsidiary of New York-based Ichnos Glenmark Innovation, Inc. (IGI), and AbbVie, have announced an exclusive licensing agreement for IGI’s lead investigational asset, ISB 2001, developed using IGI’s proprietary BEAT protein platform, for oncology and autoimmune diseases.
“Multispecifics including trispecific antibodies represent a bold new frontier in immuno-oncology with the potential to deliver deeper, more durable responses by engaging multiple targets simultaneously,” said Roopal Thakkar, executive vice-president, research and development and chief scientific officer, AbbVie.
“This partnership with IGI reflects our unwavering commitment to advancing novel therapies for patients with multiple myeloma, a disease where significant unmet need remains despite recent progress.”
“ISB 2001 exemplifies the potential of our BEAT protein platform to generate effective multispecificsTM that may overcome resistance and improve outcomes in hard-to-treat cancers,” said Cyril Konto, president and CEO of IGI.
“This agreement marks a defining milestone in IGI’s scientific journey and reflects our team’s deep commitment to delivering meaningful therapies for patients, Our partnership with AbbVie accelerates ISB 2001’s path to patients and sharpens our focus on advancing the next generation of BEAT-enabled assets in oncology.”
Under the terms of the agreement, AbbVie will receive exclusive rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize ISB 2001 across North America, Europe, Japan, and Greater China. Subject to regulatory clearance, IGI will receive an upfront payment of $700m and is eligible to receive up to $1.225bn in development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments, along with tiered, double-digit royalties on net sales.
About ISB 2001
ISB 2001 is a first-in-class trispecific T-cell engager that targets BCMA and CD38 on myeloma cells and CD3 on T cells currently in Phase 1 for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. Developed using IGI’s proprietary BEAT protein platform, ISB 2001 was engineered with two distinct binders against myeloma-associated antigens to enhance avidity, even at low target expression levels, while aiming to improve safety over first-generation bispecific antibodies.
Recently presented at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting as a Rapid Oral Presentation (Abstract #7514), data from 35 patients demonstrated a sustained overall response rate (ORR) of 79% and a high complete/stringent complete response (CR/sCR) rate of 30% at active doses ≥ 50 µg/kg in a heavily pretreated population of relapsed/refractory myeloma patients, with a favorable safety profile.
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