US company Crescent Biopharma and China-based Kelun-Biotech have partnered to exchange the rights to two of their cancer drugs as they eye clinical trials next year.
The strategic partnership sees two separate financial deals for the pair of oncology assets. Rights to Kelun’s integrin beta-6 (ITGB6)-directed antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) commanded the higher fee, with Crescent agreeing to pay the Chinese biotech $80m upfront and up to $1.25bn in milestones.
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For the rights to Crescent’s CR-001, a PD-1 × VEGF bispecific antibody, Kelun will pay $20m and milestones totalling $30m. Both licensing deals include royalties on net sales of the two products if they enter the market in the future.
Kelun-Biotech will have the rights to research, develop, manufacture and commercialise CR-001 in Greater China while Crescent will have the same rights for SKB105 in the US, Europe and all other markets outside of Greater China.
According to the companies, CR-001’s anti-VEGF activity could improve the localisation and effectiveness of combination therapies such as co-administration ADCs. A global Phase I/II trial of CR-001 in patients with solid tumours is anticipated to start in Q1 2026. A Phase I/II clinical trial of SKB105 in patients with solid tumours is anticipated to commence around the same time.
The deal between Crescent and Kelun is the latest in a long line of partnerships between Western pharma companies and Chinese biotechs. Licensing deals between US and Chinese biopharma companies hit record highs last year, a 280% increase from 2020, according to analysis by GlobalData.
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By GlobalDataChina-based companies are responsible for 20% of drugs in development worldwide, according to a separate report by GlobalData. This reflects the powerhouse role the country has embraced in the pharmaceutical industry.
The Chinese Government has been busy over the last decade implementing regulatory initiatives in a bid to increase competitiveness on the global stage. This includes China’s ‘Opinions on Deepening the Reform of the Review and Approval Processes to Encourage Innovation of Drugs and Medical Devices’, a policy introduced in 2015 designed to accelerate growth in the pharmaceutical and medtech sectors. A further focus on modernising clinical trials has meant the country’s aim of becoming a dominant region for drug pipelines is being realised.
The emergence of strong early-stage drug candidates in China has gone hand-in-hand with a steep increase in licensing deals between the country’s biotechs and Western big pharma companies. One of the biggest transactions this year was AstraZeneca’s $5.2bn deal with CSPC Pharmaceuticals to research chronic disease drug candidates.
