AbbVie and IGI Therapeutics, a subsidiary of Ichnos Glenmark Innovation, have entered an exclusive licensing agreement for the investigational cancer drug ISB 2001.
Developed using IGI’s BEAT protein platform, ISB 2001 is designed to treat oncology and autoimmune diseases.
AbbVie gains exclusive rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialise ISB 2001 across North America, Europe, Japan, and Greater China.
Under the agreement, IGI will receive an upfront payment of $700m, with potential to earn up to $1.225bn in development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments.
In addition, IGI will receive tiered, double-digit royalties on net sales, contingent upon regulatory clearance.
AbbVie executive vice president, research and development and chief scientific officer Roopal Thakkar said: “Multispecifics including trispecific antibodies represent a new frontier in immuno-oncology with the potential to deliver deeper, more durable responses by engaging multiple targets simultaneously.
“This partnership with IGI reflects our unwavering commitment to advancing novel therapies for patients with multiple myeloma, a disease where significant unmet need remains despite recent progress.”
ISB 2001 is a first-in-class trispecific T-cell engager designed to target BCMA and CD38 on myeloma cells and CD3 on T cells, currently in Phase 1 trials for multiple myeloma.
In a recently presented study, the drug showed a 79% overall response rate and a 30% complete response rate in a heavily pretreated patient population.
The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) granted ISB 2001 Orphan Drug Designation in July 2023 and Fast Track Designation in May 2025 for relapsed/refractory myeloma patients.
IGI’s BEAT platform addresses engineering challenges in bispecific antibody production.
It leverages a common light chain library and TCR interface-based heavy chain pairing, enabling the development of immune cell engagers with strong therapeutic potential.
The platform supports robust manufacturability, producing multispecific antibodies with enhanced stability, extended half-lives, and low immunogenicity.
IGI President and CEO Cyril Konto said: “ISB 2001 exemplifies the potential of our BEAT protein platform to generate effective multispecifics that may overcome resistance and improve outcomes in hard-to-treat cancers.
“This agreement marks a defining milestone in IGI’s scientific journey and reflects our team’s deep commitment to delivering meaningful therapies for patients. “Our partnership with AbbVie accelerates ISB 2001’s path to patients and sharpens our focus on advancing the next generation of BEAT-enabled assets in oncology.”
