Glenmark to double down on innovation with multispecific antibody pipeline against cancers

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Glenmark Pharmaceuticals is doubling down on its innovation-led strategy, with a growing pipeline of multispecific antibody therapies that could reshape its future.

Chairman and Managing Director Glenn Saldanha said on Monday to Moneycontrol that the company has several assets under development, including two disclosed candidates—ISB 2001 and ISB 2301—both emerging from its proprietary BEAT platform.

The $700 million upfront payment from AbbVie, announced on July 10, has provided Glenmark with breathing room and strategic flexibility.

“IGI (Glenmark’s US subsidiary) was heavily dependent on Glenmark for funding… we funded IGI to a substantial extent since 2019 and they burn about $70 million a year. That has been a huge drag on Glenmark’s P&L and Balance Sheet,” Saldanha said.

“Now, with $700 million coming in, at least for the next three, four years, they are self-sufficient plus self-sustaining… plus some amount will go back to the parent for all the investments we've made into IGI.”

ISB 2001 was licensed last week to AbbVie in a landmark deal, where Glenmark's US-based subsidiary Ichnos Glenmark Innovation (IGI), will receive $700 million upfront cash and could earn up to $1.225 billion in additional milestone payments, along with double-digit royalties on sales if the drug is commercialised.

The potential drug is currently in Phase 1B trials across the US, Australia, and Europe. The drug has shown promising early results, with a 79% overall response rate and 30% complete remission when administered to late-stage cancer patients.

"They (patients in clinical trials) came onto this drug after having gone through everything else”. Saldanha added.

“We’ve only disclosed one asset, 2301, which is an NK cell engager and multispecific antibody,” Saldanha said.

Saldanha stated that ISB 2301 is for treating solid tumours and is expected to enter clinical trials in the next calendar year.

“2301 is the near-term asset, which we've now publicly disclosed that we are hoping to get that into the clinics next calendar year.”

Saldanha said the company has a couple of multispecific antibody early-stage programs, declining to reveal more details.

Additionally, Ichnos has entered into a $320 million licensing deal for its OX40 program to Astria Therapeutics, which includes a humanized IgG1 monoclonal antibody GBR 830 targeting OX40 receptor on T-cells and ISB 880 targeting autoimmune diseases to Almirall. Both the deals include upfront fees, development, regulatory, and sales milestones, plus low double-digit royalties. GBR 830 is currently in clinical trials for moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis in the US and Europe.

These deals reflect the company’s strategy to monetize innovation while managing risk.

IGI's multi-specific antibodies are developed using its proprietary BEAT platform. Multi-specific antibody drug binds multiple targets on cancer cells, along with priming immune cells like T cells and NK cells to recognize and destroy the cancer cells.

“BEAT was developed as a plug-and-play technology… you just plug anything on that platform and test it,” he explained. “Multi means four, five, six binding sites… it makes it super powerful (drug against cancer).”

Bispecific and multispecific antibody therapies help in extending the lives of patients whose cancer has relapsed and who have exhausted all other treatment opti