NextCure has ramped up its antibody-drug conjugate pivot, penning a $745 million deal for the ex-China rights to Simcere Zaiming’s phase 1-stage tumor asset.
Simcere has been evaluating the CDH6-targeted ADC, dubbed SIM0505, in an ongoing early-stage trial in the company’s home territory of China. NextCure’s strategy for the asset involves launching its own trial in the U.S. in the third quarter of the year.
The idea behind SIM0505 is that combining a CDH6-targeting antibody with a topoisomerase 1 inhibitor (TOPOi) payload will offer “broad anti-tumor activity while offering high systemic clearance to enlarge the therapeutic window,” NextCure explained in a June 16 release.
In return for the ex-China rights to the drug, Simcere could be in line for a combined total of up to $745 million in upfront fees, development, regulatory and sales milestones—although the release didn’t offer a breakdown of the costs—as well as tiered royalties should the ADC make it to market beyond Greater China.
As part of the agreement, NextCure can also access Simcere’s linker and TOPOi payload to develop its own preclinical ADC against an undisclosed target, for which Simcere will have the Greater China rights.
The licensing deal is the latest step in a pivot to focus on ADCs that saw NextCure go all in on its preclinical B7-H4 ADC in November 2024 at the expense of its existing clinical candidate, the LAIR-2 Fc fusion protein NC41. NextCure has since taken its ADC into the clinic.
“We believe SIM0505 has the potential to be an important new therapy for cancer patients,” NextCure’s CEO Michael Richman said in the release.
“Partnering with Simcere Zaiming, a leader in antibody-drug conjugates, provides us with an opportunity to advance a class-leading ADC directed to CDH6,” Richman added. “Their proprietary payload is a potent cytotoxin with a potentially improved safety and efficacy profile compared to other topoisomerase inhibitors.”
Today’s deal is another seal of approval for Simcere’s pipeline, which garnered a $1 billion biobucks deal from AbbVie at the start of the year centered on the Chinese company’s phase 1-stage trispecific antibody. Simcere already markets several oncology drugs in China, including the FDA-approved Cosela to ease the harmful effects of chemotherapy, as well as the biliary tract cancer treatment Enweida.