iBio, Inc., an AI-driven innovator of precision antibody immunotherapies, announced the expansion of its cardiometabolic and obesity treatment development program by in-licensing a potentially best-in-class long-acting anti-myostatin antibody from AstralBio, Inc. The antibody, now named IBIO-600, was identified by AstralBio using iBio’s proprietary technology stack and was designed for subcutaneous administration with the potential for an extended half-life.
Pursuant to the agreement, AstralBio will receive an upfront payment of $750,000, which iBio has paid by issuing its common stock to AstralBio. In addition, AstralBio will be eligible for development and commercialization milestone payments totaling up to $28 million. If iBio sublicenses the licensed product, AstralBio will receive low to mid-single-digit sublicense fees on the proceeds of the sublicense fees. iBio is solely responsible for the research and development, manufacturing and commercialization activities of the licensed product.
In parallel, iBio initiated a bispecific antibody program targeting myostatin/activin A to treat obesity and cardiometabolic disorders, leveraging its proprietary Drug Discovery Platform as well as the technology of IBIO-600. The myostatin licensing agreement and planned myostatin/activin A bispecific antibody program follows a drug discovery and development collaboration between iBio and AstralBio initiated less than a year ago. iBio plans to enter into clinical investigation in obesity and cardiometabolic disorders in 2026.
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“The rapid advancement of a highly differentiated and developable anti-myostatin antibody in just seven months from inception to dosing in a non-human-primate study is a testament to the power and speed of our Drug Discovery Platform and our collaboration with AstralBio to deliver results quickly,” said Martin Brenner, Ph.D., DVM, iBio’s CEO and Chief Scientific Officer. “Our goal is to develop therapeutics that offer patients quality weight loss by reducing obesity, preserving muscle mass, and promoting muscle growth while avoiding weight regain. Adding a novel myostatin/activin A bispecific antibody expands our pipeline of obesity drug candidates and has potential as a treatment for several additional cardiometabolic disorders.”
In preclinical studies, IBIO-600 exhibits potent inhibition of myostatin in human muscle cell precursors, effectively blocking its inhibitory effects on muscle growth. Additionally, IBIO-600 has been engineered to bind to the FcRn receptor with more than 10-fold higher affinity than normal IgG, supporting the potential for reduced dosing frequency. The molecule has been advanced into non-cGMP in vivo studies in rodents and non-human primates (NHP) with the first data read-outs expected in early 2025. iBio plans to use the machine-learning and epitope-steering capabilities of the Stable HU antibody optimizer with advanced mammalian display, both components of its proprietary Drug Discovery Platform, to rapidly design and produce additional multispecific antibodies targeting, TGF-beta (TGFb) superfamily, including Myostatin and Activin A, in in vitro studies.
Source: GlobeNewsWire
