XOMA boosts stake in anti-CD38 antibody with $30 million deal

US biotech royalty firm XOMA Royalty (Nasdaq: XOMA) has expanded its interest in mezagitamab, an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody in Phase III development, through a deal worth up to $30 million with Swedish antibody developer BioInvent International (Nasdaq Stockholm: BINV).

The agreement sees XOMA paying $20 million upfront to acquire BioInvent’s royalty and milestone entitlements related to mezagitamab, with an additional $10 million payable upon a defined regulatory milestone being met. That milestone is tied to the drug receiving marketing approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of IgA nephropathy.

The transaction builds on XOMA’s existing entitlement to mezagitamab royalties, which originated from a 2003 cross-licensing deal involving its legacy bacterial protein expression technology and BioInvent’s n-CoDeR antibody platform. As a result of the new acquisition, XOMA will now receive mid-single-digit royalties on future sales of the drug and may be eligible for up to $16.25 million in milestone payments.