July 8 Quick Takes: ADC out-licenses Zynlonta to Sobi in Europe; MacroGenics closes study

A deal with ADC Therapeutics S.A. (NYSE:ADCT) will give Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (SSE:SOBI) rights to commercialize Zynlonta loncastuximab tesirine-lpyl in the EU; it is under review in that jurisdiction, with a decision due by 1Q23. ADC Therapeutics will receive $55 million up front and is eligible for $50 million on first EC approval and about $330 million in additional regulatory and sales milestones, plus royalties up to the mid-twenties. Sobi’s territories include all those outside the U.S., China, Singapore and Japan. The companies will share the cost of select global Zynlonta clinical trials. In April 2021, FDA approved Zynlonta, a CD19-targeted antibody-drug conjugate, to treat relapsed or refractory large B cell lymphoma after two or more lines of systemic therapy.

MacroGenics Inc. (NASDAQ:MGNX) said a higher-than-expected incidence of fatal hemorrhagic events in the CP-MGA271-06 study of enoblituzumab plus checkpoint inhibition in recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck was what led it to close the Phase II trial and halt treatment of the 62 patients already enrolled. Enoblituzumab is an Fc-optimized B7-H3-directed mAb that the company was investigating in combination with retifanlimab, an anti-PD-1 mAb or tebotelimab, a PD-1 × LAG-3 bispecific DART molecule. MacroGenics shares were off $0.25 to $3.25 in after-hours trading. ...