Ocean Biomedical has signed a $32 million biobucks deal with a Polish biotech to secure the rights to a batch of preclinical YKL-40 inhibitors that it hopes have potential against cancers, plus inflammatory and fibrotic diseases.
In exchange for $600,000 up front in cash and stock, Ocean Biomedical will gain the exclusive rights to further research, develop and commercialize Molecure’s OAT-3912 and other selective YKL-40 inhibitors. The deal also stretches to a pending patent for a molecular screening test that can be used to identify further candidates for the YKL-40 modulator program.
When milestones are taken into account, the total value of the deal rises to around $32 million, excluding royalties, the companies said.
OAT-3912, the lead asset from the YKL-40 program, has been touted by Warsaw-based Molecure as showing “potential therapeutic benefits” in preclinical models of various cancers as well as inflammatory and fibrotic diseases.
“This transaction at [an] early stage of the program confirms the attractiveness of our early pipeline both from [a] business and scientific perspective,” Molecure CEO Marcin Szumowski said in a statement.
Ocean is no stranger to YKL-40. Not only does the U.S. company’s pipeline include a monoclonal antibody targeting this chitinase-related protein, but one of the biotech’s co-founders is Jack Elias, M.D., who is known for his research identifying the role key role that YKL-40 plays in regulating the immune response of lung diseases.
“In our view, OAT-3912 has the potential to become a new therapeutic option for patients suffering from various types of cancers and fibrotic diseases, fitting perfectly into our strategy of pursuing innovative therapies in areas of unmet medical need,” Ocean’s chairman and co-founder, Chirinjeev Kathuria, M.D., said in the Oct. 15 release.
Ocean went public via a special acquisition corporation (SPAC) merger in 2022. The Rhode Island-based company’s preclinical pipeline of antibodies is headed up by OCX-253, which stimulates immune checkpoint inhibitor pathways and is being lined up for a phase 1 trial in non-small cell lung cancer.