The partnership with Sobi provides capital to initiate a required Phase 3 trial. Starting this trial allows Innate Pharma to immediately file for accelerated FDA approval for lacutamab based on their existing, positive Phase 2 data, creating a faster path to market.
Success in the monalizumab trial with AstraZeneca would trigger up to $825 million in milestones. Innate's CEO explicitly frames this potential windfall as the key source of non-dilutive funding to finance the company's next generation of antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) programs.
Innate is developing its Nectin-4 ADC by directly addressing the shortcomings of the approved competitor, PADCEF. Their strategy involves a different drug payload to overcome resistance, a binder that targets more tumor types, and a proprietary linker to improve the safety profile, creating a 'better follower' product.