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Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Basel, Switzerland and Ingelheim, Germany, (9 January 2025) — Boehringer Ingelheim and Synaffix B.V. (“Synaffix”), a Lonza company (SWX:LONN) focused on commercializing its clinical-stage platform technology for the development of best-in-class antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), today announced that Boehringer has licensed Synaffix’s ADC technology. This new partnership significantly bolsters Boehringer’s ADC portfolio, driven by its subsidiary, NBE Therapeutics, to achieve the company’s aim of transforming the lives of people with cancer.

ADCs are a cutting-edge class of cancer treatments that combine the targeting ability of antibodies with the potent cancer-killing power of drugs. This allows for the precise delivery of therapeutic agents directly to cancer cells, minimizing damage to healthy tissue and enhancing treatment efficacy.

Peter van de Sande, Head of Synaffix, said: “Boehringer Ingelheim is a leader in oncology treatment development, and the selection of our ADC technologies to further bolster their pipeline portfolio is a strong recognition of the potential of these technologies to maximize the therapeutic index of ADCs. This licensing agreement represents the culmination of a successful preclinical evaluation of our technology.”

Lamine Mbow, Global Head of Discovery Research, Boehringer Ingelheim, said: “We are building a broad pipeline of ADCs addressing the novel tumor target space to develop next-generation cancer treatments. By combining our deep expertise in cancer treatment development with Synaffix’s clinical-stage platform technology, we aim to accelerate the delivery of first-in-class cancer treatments to improve cancer patient outcomes.”  

Synaffix has developed a clinically validated ADC platform technology that utilizes an enzymatic modification of native glycan anchor points on antibodies, enabling the development of best-in-class ADCs or bispecifics. With the access to Synaffix’s technology, NBE Therapeutics broadens its ADC portfolio. This will enable Boehringer Ingelheim to address novel tumor targets from its comprehensive portfolio to develop first-in-class cancer treatments that address high unmet medical needs in oncology.

Under the terms of the agreement, Synaffix will provide access to its proprietary ADC technologies for an agreed but undisclosed number of targets. The first target was nominated upon signature, and additional targets will subsequently be nominated within a predefined timeframe. In addition to the upfront payment, Synaffix is eligible to receive potential additional milestone payments of up to $1.3 billion, plus additional royalty payments on net sales of resulting products.