On June 16, 2025 Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE and TASE: TEVA) and Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co., Ltd. ("Fosun Pharma", SSE: 600196, HKEX: 02196) reported that the companies, through their respective subsidiaries, have entered a strategic partnership for the development of investigational TEV-56278, an anti-PD1-IL2 ATTENUKINE therapy (Press release, Teva, JUN 16, 2025, View Source [SID1234653929]). Teva’s internally developed ATTENUKINE technology provides a new mechanism of action, potentially offering high efficacy and low toxicity in a broad array of oncology indications.
Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
Under the terms of the agreement, which aims to accelerate clinical data generation, Fosun Pharma is granted an exclusive license to develop, manufacture and commercialize TEV-56278 in Chinese mainland, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), Macau SAR and Taiwan region and select Southeast Asian countries. Teva retains all development, manufacturing and commercialization rights to the licensed molecule in the rest of the world. The strategic partnership presents a significant step forward in the global development of TEV-56278, giving Teva the opportunity to leverage Fosun Pharma-generated data in other geographies.
"This partnership with Fosun Pharma in the development of our internally developed TEV-56278, an anti-PD1-IL2 ATTENUKINE therapy with the potential to treat devastating cancers, is the latest advance to ensuring acceleration of our pipeline," said Eric Hughes, MD, PhD, Executive Vice President, Teva Global R&D and Chief Medical Officer. "TEV-56278 demonstrates the strength of Teva’s innovative drug development capabilities and how strategic partnerships with companies such as Fosun Pharma play a pivotal role in advancing therapies on behalf of patients."
Anti-PD1-IL2 fusion proteins like TEV-56278 represent a novel approach to cancer immunotherapy. TEV-56278 is designed to deliver IL-2 selectively to PD-1+ T cells, thus amplifying anti-tumor T-cell activity while minimizing off-target systemic toxicities. The targeted approach holds promise for improving outcomes for patients with a variety of oncology diseases.
"We are pleased to partner with Teva on the development of TEV-56278," said Xingli WANG, MD, PhD, Executive President of Fosun Pharma and CEO of the Global R&D Center, "This collaboration brings together Teva’s expertise in innovative drug development with Fosun Pharma’s strong oncology development experience and commercial capabilities in the China market, creating a powerful synergy to accelerate the delivery of this important therapy to patients globally."
About TEV-56278
TEV-56278 is an anti-PD-1 antibody-cytokine fusion protein designed to selectively deliver an interleukin-2 (IL-2), i.e., ATTENUKINE, to PD-1-expressing T cells within the tumor microenvironment. This targeted approach aims to amplify anti-tumor T-cell activity while minimizing systemic toxicities. TEV-56278 is being evaluated as a monotherapy and in combination with pembrolizumab. Preclinical data has demonstrated tumor regression, enhanced T-cell infiltration, and durable immune memory.