Eli Lilly is again turning to dealmaking to boost its oncology portfolio, reaching a deal Tuesday to acquire a biotechnology company, CrossBridge Bio, that’s developing newer types of targeted cancer medicines.
Lilly will pay up to $300 million in cash for CrossBridge, a Houston-based startup making antibody-drug conjugates for cancer. That total includes an unspecified upfront payout and subsequent payment tied to a development milestone, CrossBridge said in a statement.
The deal hands Lilly technological capabilities that have become increasingly desirable to major pharmaceutical firms. Antibody-drug conjugates, or ADCs, are now a pillar of cancer care, a method of precisely delivering a toxic blow to malignant cells. Over 20 ADCs are currently available to treat tumors of the breast, lung, bladder and more. Many are working their way into earlier treatment lines, in some cases supplanting decades-old chemotherapy approaches.
Those advances have spurred a rush of industry dealmaking as well as investments in startups aiming to take the technology a step further. CrossBridge is among the young companies involved, focusing on ADCs that have “dual payloads,” or fire two toxic warheads at tumors instead of one.
CrossBridge’s approach has yielded a candidate, called CBB-120, which it believes to be an advance over other ADCs — like Datroway and Trodelvy — that target the cancer-driving protein TROP2. In the deal announcement, the company said its treatment should have a wider “therapeutic index,” or range of safe and effective doses, than current TROP2-directed ADCs. CBB-120 could generate longer-lasting responses and better overcome treatment resistance, too, CrossBridge claimed.
In a statement, co-founder and CEO Michael Torres said his company believes its dual-payload ADC platform is "uniquely positioned to be transformative in oncology.”
CBB-120 hasn’t yet reached clinical testing. An application to start human trials is expected this year.
For Lilly, the deal adds to a precision cancer drug business the company has steadily been building since its 2019 buyout of Loxo Oncology. ADCs have been one area of focus; Lilly bought two ADC-focused startups, Emergence Therapeutics and Mablink Bioscience, in 2023, and now has a handful of prospects in clinical testing.
