LigaChemBio Secures Sole Rights to B7-H4 ADC as Partner Shifts Strategy

LigaChemBio has secured the exclusive development and commercialization rights to LNCB74, a B7-H4-targeted antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) it had been co-developing with its US partner NextCure. The total contract value, including milestones and royalties to be paid in the future, is at least 54.1 billion won, exceeding 10% of LigaChemBio’s consolidated equity as of the end of 2025.

The direct trigger for the rights transfer was NextCure’s shift in business direction. NextCure entered into a reverse merger with Avere Therapeutics, a developer of autoimmune disease treatments, and plans to change its Nasdaq ticker to AVRX. As part of the process, it decided to discontinue development of its existing oncology pipeline and raised $320 million (approximately 440 billion won) through a private investment in public equity (PIPE) from global institutional investors, fully shifting its capital toward the autoimmune disease market.

LigaChemBio determined that the partner’s structural changes presented an opportunity to secure exclusive rights to a key pipeline. The phase 1 trial in patients with advanced solid tumors currently underway in the United States will continue without interruption, while status as the holder of the investigational new drug (IND) application and other rights will be transferred to LigaChemBio in stages. LigaChemBio CEO Se-jin Park formalized plans to accelerate clinical development and pursue global licensing.

■ Technical differentiation and competitive landscape

LNCB74 is a drug candidate that combines NextCure’s B7-H4-targeted antibody with LigaChemBio’s next-generation ADC platform, ConjuAll, and the cytotoxic agent MMAE. Its cleavable linker technology is designed to release the drug selectively in tumor tissue, thereby minimizing adverse effects, and the candidate is considered to have demonstrated a favorable safety profile in preclinical and early clinical studies.

In the B7-H4 ADC market, global pharmaceutical companies including AstraZeneca (AZD8205), GSK (HS-20089) and Mersana Therapeutics (Emiltatug ledadotin) are already engaged in intense competition for the lead. The global ADC market is projected to grow to approximately $27.6 billion (approximately 37 trillion won) by 2027, while B7-H4 is drawing attention as a next-generation immune checkpoint target because it is overexpressed in solid tumors with high unmet medical needs, including breast, ovarian and endometrial cancers.

Industry experts analyze that competition in ADC development has moved beyond simply attaching a potent cytotoxic agent to a contest over platform technologies that balance stability in the bloodstream with precise targeting within tumors. Whether LNCB74 can secure a “best-in-class” position in the global market by leveraging safety that allows administration at higher doses than competing drugs will be a key factor determining its success.

■ Evolution of Korean biotech companies’ strategies

In the past, South Korean biotech companies largely limited themselves to out-licensing drug candidates to global pharmaceutical companies at an early stage. This case shows that their strategies have evolved by a step: using changes in a partner’s ownership structure as an opportunity to regain global exclusive rights to a key pipeline and directly lead clinical development in the United States.

LigaChemBio, formerly LegoChem Biosciences, has raised the profile of South Korean ADC technology through a series of multitrillion-won licensing agreements with global big pharma companies including Janssen. LNCB74 is a key solid-tumor asset following LCB84, a TROP2-targeted candidate licensed to Janssen, and its clinical development is progressing after the US Food and Drug Administration approved the addition of a high-dose cohort at the end of 2025. Once the phase 1 data become more defined, the company is expected to begin actively pursuing a large-scale third-party licensing deal with global big pharma companies.