Eisai and Bristol Myers cancel cancer ADC deal

Dive Brief:

• Eisai and Bristol Myers Squibb will cancel a collaboration on a dual-acting drug being developed to treat lung and ovarian cancer, Eisai said Monday. The termination is the result of the U.S. drugmaker’s “portfolio prioritization efforts,” Eisai said, likely referring to actions announced by Bristol Myers in April.
• The Japan-based drugmaker will refund part of a $200 million payment Bristol Myers paid upfront to finance research and development costs for farletuzumab ecteribulin.
• The two companies inked the collaboration deal in 2021, which included a total of $650 million in upfront payments and up to $2.5 billion in milestone payments. It signaled Bristol Myers’ interest in antibody-drug conjugates, or ADCs, which other drugmakers have brought to market. Bristol Myers has yet to follow.

Dive Insight:

Like all other ADCs, farletuzumab ecteribulin combines the targeting capabilities of engineered antibodies with the tumor-killing potency of chemotherapy. Eisai’s drug — the first of this type it’s developed — uses an antibody that homes in on a protein called folate receptor alpha, found in high concentration in lung, ovarian and other types of cancer. It’s linked to a chemotherapy based on Eisai’s marketed breast cancer drug Halaven.

The partners have advanced it as far as Phase 2 trials in chemotherapy-resistant ovarian cancer and non-small cell lung cancer that has spread beyond the lungs, both sponsored by Bristol Myers. Eisai still has its first-in-human Phase 1 trial in solid tumors underway, where it’s being studied in breast and endometrial cancer in addition to lung and ovarian disease.

In the wake of the deal’s termination, Eisai said it will now “accelerate the development of the agent as a high priority with the hope to deliver it to patients as early as possible.”

For Bristol Myers, it has since signed ADC deals with SystImmune, for $800 million upfront, and Orum Therapeutics, for $100 million upfront. The second of those two deals involves an antibody paired with a protein degrader drug rather than a chemotherapeutic.

But like other large drugmakers, Bristol Myers has recently undertaken a review of its business ahead of expected patent expirations for many of its biggest products. In its April restructuring announcement, the company said it will lay off 2,200 employees, or 6% of its workforce, and had discontinued 12 experimental drugs.