AbbVie has entered into a partnership and option-to-license agreement with EvolveImmune Therapeutics, to develop next-generation cancer biotherapeutics.

The partnership will focus on creating multispecific biologics targeting various oncology indications and aims to address the issue of cancer cell resistance to existing immunotherapies by employing EvolveImmune's proprietary T-cell engager EVOLVE platform.

The platform, with its cluster of differentiation 2 strategies, is designed to deliver potent, selective, and integrated T-cell costimulation, enhancing the tumour-killing capacity of T cells.

The strategy is to bypass low tumour immunogenicity, activate adaptive immunity conditionally, and minimise T-cell dysfunction in both solid and haematologic malignancies.

Under the agreement terms, EvolveImmune is eligible to obtain an aggregate of $65m in upfront fees from AbbVie along with equity investment.

Additionally, EvolveImmune will receive option fees and milestone payments of up to $1.4bn, and tiered royalties on future net sales.

AbbVie discovery research global head and senior vice-president Jonathon Sedgwick said: "AbbVie is dedicated to advancing the understanding of devastating diseases like cancer and investing in groundbreaking technologies and therapeutic platforms, to deliver novel treatments for patients with high unmet needs.

"We are excited to collaborate with the talented team at EvolveImmune to further advance their novel T-cell engager platform technology."

US-based immunotherapy platform company EvolveImmune Therapeutics claims to be the first-in-category, multifunctional biotherapeutics developer for overcoming carcinogenic immunodeficiency across a spectrum of tumours.

The company is backed by various life science investor companies, including Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer Ventures, Solasta Ventures, and Takeda Ventures, among others.

EvolveImmune CEO Stephen Bloch said: "This collaboration with AbbVie, a global leader in oncology, offers tremendous validation of the EVOLVE platform and the dedicated and creative work of the EvolveImmune team.”

This collaboration follows AbbVie's recent partnership with Hungarian pharmaceutical company Gedeon Richter, which focuses on developing treatments for neuropsychiatric conditions.