AbbVie pays $700 million upfront for a trispecific antibody from Ichnos Glenmark Innovation

AbbVie is paying $700 million upfront to license ISB 2001, a trispecific antibody for multiple myeloma, from Ichnos Glenmark Innovation. AbbVie also agreed to pay up to $1.225 billion in additional milestone payments, in exchange for global rights.

Why it matters: This move strengthens AbbVie’s position in blood cancer treatment, giving it a cutting-edge alternative to therapies from Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and Regeneron and potentially improving outcomes for hard-to-treat patients.

Backstory: This is AbbVie’s second trispecific deal in 2025 as the company previously paid over $1B for Simcere Zaiming’s SIM0500 targeting GPRC5D, BCMA, and CD3.

Three for the money: ISB 2001 targets CD38, BCMA, and CD3, while J&J’s Tecvayli, Pfizer’s Elrexfio and Regeneron’s Lynozyfic only target BCMA and CD3. Adding CD38 could improve tumor binding and overcome resistance that limits current therapies.

Big picture: AbbVie is aggressively investing in trispecific antibodies, a promising new class of cancer drugs. This aligns with its broader oncology strategy focused on multispecifics, antibody-drug conjugates, and recent acquisitions like ImmunoGen.

Zoom in: In phase 1, ISB 2001 showed a 79% response rate in heavily pretreated multiple myeloma patients; nearly 30% had complete responses.

Yes, but: Despite no dose-limiting toxicities being observed, common side effects included low blood counts and mild cytokine release syndrome.