On Thursday, iBio, Inc. (NYSE:IBIO) expanded its cardiometabolic and obesity treatment development program by in-licensing a potentially long-acting anti-myostatin antibody from AstralBio, Inc.

In March, iBio collaborated with AstralBio to discover, engineer, and develop antibodies to treat obesity and other cardiometabolic conditions.

The antibody, now named IBIO-600, was identified by AstralBio using iBio’s proprietary technology stack. It was designed for subcutaneous administration and has the potential for an extended half-life.

AstralBio will receive an upfront payment of $750,000, which iBio has paid by issuing its common stock to AstralBio.

In addition, AstralBio will be eligible for development and commercialization milestone payments totaling up to $28 million.

If iBio sublicenses the licensed product, AstralBio will receive low to mid-single-digit sublicense fees on the proceeds of the sublicense fees.

iBio is solely responsible for the research and development, manufacturing, and commercialization activities of the licensed product.

In parallel, iBio initiated a bispecific antibody program targeting myostatin/activin A to treat obesity and cardiometabolic disorders, leveraging its proprietary Drug Discovery Platform and the technology of IBIO-600.

The myostatin licensing agreement and planned myostatin/activin A bispecific antibody program follows a drug discovery and development collaboration between iBio and AstralBio initiated less than a year ago.

iBio plans to enter into clinical investigation in obesity and cardiometabolic disorders in 2026.

In preclinical studies, IBIO-600 exhibits potent inhibition of myostatin in human muscle cell precursors, effectively blocking its inhibitory effects on muscle growth.

The company adds that IBIO-600 has been engineered to bind to the FcRn receptor with more than 10-fold higher affinity than normal IgG, supporting the potential for reduced dosing frequency.

The molecule has been advanced into non-cGMP in vivo studies in rodents and non-human primates, with the first data read-outs expected in early 2025.

iBio plans to use the machine-learning and epitope-steering capabilities of the Stable HU antibody optimizer with advanced mammalian display to design and produce additional multispecific antibodies targeting TGF-beta superfamily, including Myostatin and Activin A in in-vitro studies.

Price Action: At last check on Thursday, IBIO stock was up 2.04% at $2.50 during the premarket session.

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This article Nano-Cap iBio Expands Obesity Program With New Antibody Using In-Licensed Platform originally appeared on Benzinga.com

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