Percheron Therapeutics acquires worldwide licence to commercialise HMBD-002 cancer therapy

Percheron Therapeutics (ASX: PER) has acquired a worldwide exclusive license from Singapore-based Hummingbird Bioscience for monoclonal antibody therapy HMBD-002 to treat a range of cancer indications.

The company will pay Hummingbird an upfront consideration of $4.6 million plus milestone payments of as much as $443m and royalties on net sales of the commercial product.

Percheron will have the right to develop, manufacture and commercialise HMBD-002, with a clinical trial targeted for next year and Hummingbird will provide a batch of HMBD-002 for Percheron to use in future clinical trials at no additional cost.

‘Transformative step’

Percheron chief executive Dr James Garner said the agreement was a “transformative step” for the company.

“Hummingbird lies at the cutting edge of novel drug design and we are delighted to partner on this promising drug candidate and take it forward to commercialisation,” he said.

“The need for new therapeutic options in oncology remains substantial and we very much hope this exciting program can bring meaningful benefit to patients confronting the enormous challenge of a cancer diagnosis.”

Clinical trials

A Phase 1 clinical trial on patients with advanced cancer showed HMBD-002 to be generally safe and well tolerated.

The company conducted the trial under an open investigational new drug (IND) application with the US Food and Drug Administration.

Percheron aims to commence a Phase II clinical trial for HMBD-002 in 2026, either as a monotherapy or combined with immuno-oncology therapies such as Keytruda (pembrolizumab), Opdivo (nivolumab) or Tecentriq (atezolizumab).

Lengthy asset search

Percheron has been searching for a new asset after reporting a negative trial read-out in December from an international Phase IIb clinical trial of avicursen to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

“Our board recognised that a pipeline in which avicursen remained central would not likely be acceptable to investors,” Dr Garner said.

“Over the first six months of this year, we examined over 100 individual drug candidates from more than 70 companies and decided on HMBD-002 for its compelling mechanism of action and the fact that it is already a mid-clinical-stage asset.”

The asset search coincided with Hummingbird’s decision to focus on other technologies including HMBD-001 to target HER3, as well as an inflammation and immunity antibody-drug conjugate pipeline where it holds a world-leading technological position.