Summit Therapeutics partners with Akeso in deal worth $5bn

Summit Therapeutics (Summit) has announced a definitive agreement of its partnership with Akeso in a deal worth up to $5bn to in-licence its breakthrough bispecific antibody, ivonescimab.

Under the terms of the agreement, Summit will make an upfront payment of $500m to Akeso, which will be eligible to receive regulatory and commercial milestones of up to $4.5bn, as well as low double-digit royalties on net sales.

Through the deal, Summit will receive the rights to develop and commercialise ivonescimab in the US, Canada, Europe and Japan, with Akeso retaining the rights for the rest of the world, including China.

Recently presented phase 2 study results showed the PD-1/ VEGF bispecific antibody was associated with an overall response rate of 68.4% in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have failed epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

A median progression-free survival (mPFS) time period of 8.2 months was also observed in the study when ivonescimab was combined with combination chemotherapy (pemetrexed and carboplatin) as compared to historical mPFS of 4.3 months in patients treated with combination chemotherapy alone.

In a separate group, ivonescimab combined with docetaxel in patients who have failed PD-(L)1 and chemotherapies demonstrated a mPFS of 6.6 months as compared to a historical mPFS of 4.5 months with docetaxel alone, a current standard of care regimen for these patients.

The study, which similarly had patients receiving ivonescimab plus chemotherapy as their first line therapy for metastatic disease, was considered to have demonstrated a tolerable safety profile and a low discontinuation rate for adverse events.

“Ivonescimab has demonstrated the potential to deliver superior clinical benefit for patients and tremendous value for investors,” said Dr Michelle Xia, co-founder, chairwoman, chief executive officer, and president of Akeso. “The Akeso team has been dedicated to the development of ivonescimab for the past eight years, and proudly advanced the molecule to the clinical phase 3 stage.”

Summit said it is initiating development activities for ivonescimab and will do so first in NSCLC indications, with plans made to start treating patients in clinical studies by the second quarter of 2023.

Robert Duggan, chairman and chief executive officer of Summit, said: “We believe the potential exists for enormous creation through this partnership. We are extremely encouraged by ivonescimab and the potential for improving the quality and duration of patients’ lives based on clinical data to support this point.”