California VC firm Aditum Bio is reaching across the Pacific to hatch a brand-new biotech. Teaming up with China-based Leads Biolabs, the partners are launching Oblenio Bio to develop a tri-specific T-cell engager antibody for autoimmune diseases.
Leads is giving Oblenio the exclusive option to develop and commercialize LBL-051 worldwide, according to a Nov. 7 release. As for Aditum, the VC will fund Oblenio and work with the new biotech in efforts to quickly move the candidate into clinical studies.
Meanwhile, Leads is eligible to receive up to $35 million in upfront and near-term payments, $579 million in milestone payments plus royalties on potential sales. The Chinese biotech is also entitled to an equity stake in Oblenio Bio, according to the release.
Leads developed LBL-051 using its antibody platform, dubbed LeadBody. The antibody binds to CD3 on T cells and CD19 and BCMA on B cells, bringing the two together so that the T cells can target and destroy B cells that have gone awry in autoimmune diseases.
"By targeting both CD19 and BCMA in autoimmune disorders, LBL-051 has the potential to achieve a complete immune reset and superior efficacy and durability, compared to single targeting of either CD19 or BCMA alone," Aditum co-founder and managing director Joe Jimenez said in the release.
Oblenio is the thirteenth company founded by Aditum, according to the release. The VC firm follows a strategy of identifying promising clinical assets and spinning them out into their own individual companies.
Jimenez served as CEO of Novartis for eight years before founding Aditum in 2019 with another Big Pharma alum, Mark Fishman, M.D., who was president of the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research.
In 2023, Aditum’s weight loss biotech Versanis Bio sold to Eli Lilly for up to $1.92 billion in upfront payments and potential milestones. Versanis’ lead asset, an antibody called bimagrumab, was originally licensed from Novartis.