
Synaffix expands ADC deal from 2022 with MacroGenics
The Dutch biotech Synaffix, which has been active in the deal space out of the gate in 2023, is building on a deal it made with MacroGenics last year.
Synaffix announced Tuesday it has expanded an agreement with the biotech MacroGenics to license out its antibody conjugation platform, called GlycoConnect, along with other pieces of Synaffix’s technology. The deal is designed to create several ADC programs. Both companies inked the first in February 2022, which netted Synaffix $586 million in upfront and milestone payments, with three programs being developed. Synaffix is eligible for royalties on commercial sales.
The expansion will now see Synaffix receive a possible $2.2 billion, plus tiered royalties in the low to high single-digit range for possible net sales on the products. The expanded deal will also allow MacroGenics to have seven total programs, including the three from the original deal. However, no details on the timeline for the release of ADC products were immediately available.
Anthony DeBoer, the vice president of business development at Synaffix, told Endpoints News in an email that the deal was expanded because the partners wanted to develop a larger number of ADC product candidates.
“The teams and technologies of both companies work seamlessly together and we wanted to build on that momentum and broaden our relationship,” DeBoer wrote. He also added no further expansions of the deal are on the books for now.
According to a release, there are now 13 companies that are developing more than 20 ADCs using Synaffix technology, with five programs having started clinical development.
The news has also given MacroGenics a small bump in its stock price $MGNX by 2% since opening on Tuesday.

“MacroGenics continues to be excited about the promise of Synaffix’s novel drug-linker technology that can help advance multiple potential first and best-in-class ADCs for the treatment of cancer,” MacroGenics chief scientific officer Ezio Bonvini said in a release.
Synaffix has been busy on the deal front so far this year. In January, the biotech struck a deal with Amgen to develop new ADCs, with the pharma starting with one ADC program and promising Synaffix up to $2 billion if it opted into four others.
Singapore’s Hummingbird Bioscience also entered into a licensing agreement with Synaffix at the beginning of this year, with the biotech eligible for up to $150 million, including an upfront and milestone payment plus royalties on net sales. Hummingbird obtained the rights to use Synaffix’s ADC technologies.