WuXi STA, a subsidiary of WuXi AppTec, and Coherent Biopharma, signed a strategic partnership agreement whereby WuXi STA will become the preferred CDMO partner. The company will provide Coherent Biopharma with integrated CMC services to accelerate its present and future drug candidates (small molecule, peptide, oligonucleotide, and complex chemical conjugate, etc.), from API to drug product. This will include but not be limited to process development, manufacturing, analytical, and regulatory filing support.
In recent years, Peptide Drug Conjugates (PDC) have attracted attention from increasing numbers of pharmaceutical companies due to advantages such as strong tumor permeation, good scalability, and relatively good pharmacokinetics, etc., according to WuXi officials.
Coherent Biopharma is focusing on the R&D and commercialization of tumor-targeting ligand-mediated drugs and tumor markers. Based on its BEST™ (Bi-Engaging ligand-mediated Selective Targeting) technology platform, Coherent Biopharma reports that it has developed a diverse product pipeline with the PDC products, including CBP-1008 and CBP-1018. The two drugs are in clinical trials in the U.S. Meanwhile, multiple new drugs are in various R&D stages, ready for clinical development in a few years, notes a Coherent spokesperson.
Based on a prior successful collaboration on CBP-1008, this strategic partnership between Coherent Biopharma and WuXi STA is expected to broaden the collaboration beyond CBP-1008. PDC drugs have broad applications, but their development faces many technical challenges, says Minzhang Chen, PhD, Co-CEO of WuXi AppTec and CEO of WuXi STA.
WuXi STA’s peptide platform provides comprehensive CDMO services from drug discovery to commercial manufacturing, adds Chen, who points out that this vertically integrated peptide platform covers unnatural amino acids, conjugates, peptide APIs to drug products, coupled with analytical support and CMC writing services.
