Business
Adagene Expands SAFEbody® Collaboration and License Agreement with Exelixis to Develop Third Novel Masked Antibody-Drug Conjugate
SAN DIEGO and SUZHOU, China, Sept. 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Adagene Inc. (“Adagene”) (Nasdaq: ADAG) today announced an amendment to the 2021 collaboration and license agreement with Exelixis. Under the terms of the amended agreement, Exelixis will utilize Adagene’s SAFEbody technology platform to generate a masked monoclonal antibody from the company’s pipeline for the development of an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) against an Exelixis-nominated solid tumor target. Adagene is eligible to rec
About this update from Exelixis, Inc.
[{"type":"image","alt":"Adagene Inc.","displaySize":"","headline":null,"caption":"Adagene Inc.","className":"","disableSlideshowImg":false,"size":{"original":{"width":300,"height":263,"url":"https://media.zenfs.com/en/globenewswire.com/af1c524f33a5b0ab58b78f30aa6d36d7"},"resized":{"url":"https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/pI3DpScLq.GcBgxWGZ9SEw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTQyMDtoPTM2ODtjZj13ZWJw/https://media.zenfs.com/en/globenewswire.com/af1c524f33a5b0ab58b78f30aa6d36d7","width":300,"height":263}},"lazy":false},{"type":"text","content":"SAN DIEGO and SUZHOU, China, Sept. 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Adagene Inc. (“Adagene”) (Nasdaq: ADAG) today announced an amendment to the 2021 collaboration and license agreement with Exelixis. Under the terms of the amended agreement, Exelixis will utilize Adagene’s SAFEbody technology platform to generate a masked monoclonal antibody from the company’s pipeline for the development of an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) against an Exelixis-nominated solid tumor target.","length":473,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"Adagene is eligible to receive development and commercialization milestones and royalties on net sales of products developed around this target.","length":149,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"Peter Luo, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Adagene said, “Our SAFEbody technology enables an antibody or ADC to be invisible until it reaches the tumor microenvironment, resulting in a wide therapeutic index, as seen with ADG126. Our evolving partnership with Exelixis highlights the potential of conditional masking to safely deliver a payload or immune modulating antibody directly to tumor cells. We are very pleased to continue to collaborate with Exelixis and look forward to the company’s development of SAFE-ADC® that leverage our SAFEbody technology.”","length":566,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"Biologic cancer therapy targets are expressed at high levels in cancer cells, but many are also expressed at lower levels on healthy cells. Binding to healthy cells may lead to unwanted safety or tolerability issues. Adagene’s SAFEbody platform is designed to overcome this challenge by masking antibodies to healthy cells while preferentially binding to the target in tumor cells.","length":381,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"Adagene’s most advanced SAFEbody candidate, ADG126, is curren...