Astellas inks ADC deal with Evopoint Biosciences for XNW27011

30 May 2025

Japanese drugmaker Astellas Pharma (TYO: 4503) today announced an exclusive license agreement with China’s Evopoint Biosciences for XNW27011, a novel investigational clinical-stage antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting CLDN18.2.

The agreement grants Astellas a worldwide (excluding China’s mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan region) exclusive license to develop and commercialize XNW27011.

XNW27011 is currently being evaluated in a Phase I/II study in China in patients with CLDN18.2-expressing solid tumors, including gastric cancer, gastroesophageal cancer and pancreatic cancer. It uses a proprietary topoisomerase I inhibitor payload and linker technology, an approach that has demonstrated clinical success in other approved cancer therapies.

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