Debiopharm, ITM ink €300M licensing deal for cancer treatment

Debiopharm and ITM announced a licensing deal for a ​​radiopharmaceutical treatment that’s being investigated in several cancers.

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Clik here to view.Andrew Cavey

Debiopharm, which is based in Switzerland, is eligible for upfront, development and regulatory milestone payments of about €300 million, or about $331 million, along with commercial milestones and low double-digit royalties on potential future sales.

In exchange, the German radiopharma biotech gets exclusive global development and commercialization rights to Debiopharm’s peptide-based theranostic pair, which is a combination of the therapeutic compound Debio 0228 and diagnostic imaging agent Debio 0328.

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Clik here to view.Bertrand Ducrey

The combo is currently in the Phase 1/2 GaLuCi trial in clear cell renal cell carcinoma, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and colorectal cancer. According to the companies, the treatment combo targets the carbonic anhydrase IX surface protein, which plays a role in promoting tumor survival, growth and metastasis.

“Adding a clinical stage theranostic pair that targets the critical CA IX protein aligns seamlessly with our mission to expand access to innovative radiopharmaceuticals on a global scale,” ITM CEO Andrew Cavey said in a statement.

Debiopharm CEO Bertrand Ducrey added in a statement that Debio 0328’s “outstanding potential as a stand-alone imaging agent has also boosted our confidence for the upcoming evaluation of Debio 0228, the therapeutic agent.”

Back in June, Merck KGaA decided to wind down Phase 3 trials for a cancer drug called xevinapant that it licensed from Debiopharm in 2021 after a failure.