Harbour BioMed is setting sail as the Solstice begins, riding the waves of biobucks potential that could reach heights up to $1.1 billion.
Newly formed Solstice Oncology has inked an exclusive development and commercialization deal for Harbour’s HBM4003, an anti-CTLA-4 monoclonal heavy chain-only antibody (HCAb). The terms of the agreement exclude Greater China.
In exchange for rights to the clinical-stage asset, Harbour will receive a $105 million upfront package comprising $50 million in cash, $5 million in near-term payments and more than $50 million in equity in Solstice.
“By co-founding a company along with others and becoming a shareholder, we are participating in the building of a global biotechnology company alongside experienced investors, focused on the development of HBM4003, one of our leading antibody programs,” Harbour CEO and co-founder Jingsong Wang, M.D., Ph.D., said in a release.
“This structure enables long-term value creation while allowing Harbour BioMed to remain engaged in advancing the asset toward global development,” he added.
Harbour will also have the chance to reel in up to $1.1 billion biobucks tied to the completion of certain future events, plus tiered royalties on sales outside of China.
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While the deal announcement didn’t disclose the therapeutic area Solstice will be pursuing for HBM4003, one could assume from the new company’s name and mechanism of the program that it will be in cancer.
As for Harbour, the company is largely focused on immunology and oncology development. The company leverages its platform, coded Harbour Mice, to create fully human monoclonal antibodies in the two areas.
Shanghai-based Harbour has significant presence in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as well as in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. In December, the company announced a partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb for several discovery programs, with biobucks up to $1.035 billion on the table.
