[Edaily Reporter KIM SAE-MI ] Qurient Co., Ltd.(115180)is launching a joint venture with Lonza, a global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), to develop a dual-payload antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) platform. The company has already signed material transfer agreements (MTAs) with numerous pharmaceutical and biotech firms, and the first technology transfer agreement is expected as early as the end of this year, with multiple such agreements anticipated starting next year.

Qurient Co., Ltd. announced on the 13th that it has signed a joint commercialization agreement with Lonza for a dual-payload ADC platform. Previously, on the 12th (local time), Lonza announced that it had entered into an exclusive license agreement with Qurient Co., Ltd. to use Qurient’s CDK7 inhibitor in the dual-payload ADC field.

The core of this agreement is to combine the cyclin-dependent kinase 7 (CDK7) inhibitor developed by Qurient Co., Ltd. with Lonza’s linker and payload technologies to provide solutions to global pharmaceutical companies. Qurient Co., Ltd. will supply the CDK7 inhibitor, while Lonza will integrate it into its ADC platform and provide it to clients.

This agreement differs from a typical technology export arrangement, in which Qurient Co., Ltd. transfers technology to Lonza and receives an upfront payment and milestone payments. Instead, the two companies will jointly pursue the platform business and share the revenue generated from individual technology transfer agreements signed with global pharmaceutical companies in the future.

This joint venture is particularly significant because it is not limited to a single ADC drug candidate. If Lonza enters into dual-payload ADC technology transfer agreements with multiple pharmaceutical companies, Qurient Co., Ltd. will also receive a share of the upfront payments, milestones, and royalties generated from each agreement. This establishes a foundation for Qurient Co., Ltd. to generate recurring revenue from multiple ADC development projects.

However, specific financial terms—such as the upfront payment and revenue-sharing ratio—have not been disclosed. Yoo Chang-yeon, Vice President of Qurient Co., Ltd., explained, “Qurient Co., Ltd. supplies the CDK7 inhibitor, and Lonza combines it with the linker and exatecan to provide the product to clients,” adding, “While we cannot disclose the exact revenue-sharing ratio due to the terms of the agreement between the two companies, it can be viewed as a partnership between nearly equal partners.”

Through this collaboration, the two companies unveiled their first dual-payload technology, “SYN-duo CC.” SYN-duo CC is a linker-payload technology that combines Exatecan, a topoisomerase 1 (TOP1) inhibitor, with Qurient Co., Ltd.’s CDK7 inhibitor.

A dual-payload ADC is a therapeutic agent that carries two types of drugs with different mechanisms of action on a single antibody. SYN-duo CC is designed so that the CDK7 inhibitor potentiates the anticancer activity of the TOP1 inhibitor.

Lonza plans to offer SYN-duo CC as a linker-payload solution for global ADC developers. In addition to Exatecan, it can be combined with various other payloads and Qurient Co., Ltd.’s CDK7 inhibitor, making it applicable to a wide range of ADC development projects.

Preparations for commercialization are also underway. According to Qurient Co., Ltd., the company has already signed Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs) with numerous global pharmaceutical and biotech companies, and there is a substantial backlog of requests for technology evaluation.

An MTA is a contract that pharmaceutical companies enter into to apply the payload to their own antibodies and verify its performance. Through the MTA, pharmaceutical companies conduct their own tests before deciding whether to actually adopt the technology. Vice President Yoo noted, “We already have a substantial backlog,” adding, “For some companies, the evaluation takes 2–3 months after the MTA, while for others, it takes about half a year.”

The company expects its first technology transfer agreement to materialize as early as the end of this year. The company anticipates that a number of technology transfer deals will be finalized by next year at the latest. Vice President Yoo predicted, “The first agreements could emerge as early as the end of this year, with many more following next year,” adding, “I expect we’ll see one deal every two months or so.”

This outlook is based on Lonza’s existing experience in commercializing ADC technology. This year, Lonza has signed ADC platform technology licensing agreements with several global pharmaceutical and biotech companies, including Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), Stipple Bio, and Ammax Bio. According to Qurient Co., Ltd., Lonza has signed seven such technology transfer agreements this year, bringing its cumulative total to 30–40.

Qurient Co., Ltd. believes it can expand its business opportunities by leveraging Lonza’s global customer network as demand shifts from single-payload ADCs to dual-payload ADCs. Vice President Yoo stated, “Lonza will take the lead in driving the business, and Qurient Co., Ltd. will simply supply the CDK7 inhibitor,” adding, “Once these technology transfer agreements start coming in, they will continue steadily.”