SystImmune / Sichuan Biokin

SystImmune, headquartered in Redmond, Washington, with its parent Sichuan Biokin in Chengdu, developed izalontamab brengitecan, or iza-bren, the first bispecific antibody-drug conjugate to win a phase 3 trial. Iza-bren targets EGFR and HER3 at once and is partnered with Bristol Myers Squibb in a deal worth up to 8.4 billion dollars, and a pipeline of further bispecific ADCs, including trastuzumab brengitecan, follows it. OnCo links it to triple-negative and HER2-positive breast cancer and oesophageal cancer, to the bispecific ADC technology, to Sichuan Cancer Hospital, to Li Zhang, and to the idea of two-target antibody drugs that close the antigen escape route. Acquired resistance to every therapy is the bottleneck the bispecific design is meant to address. Izalontamab brengitecan has its own page.