Achievement of a milestone in the global Phase III registration trial IZABRIGHT-Lung02 has triggered a USD 250 million near-term milestone payment to SystImmune, Inc. under its collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY). That brings BMS's total payments related to the molecule to USD 1.3 billion, according to a disclosure filed by China-based Sichuan Biokin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (SSE: 688506), SystImmune's parent company. The payment represents the second USD 250 million tranche under the agreement, alongside an USD 800 million upfront payment received after the deal was signed in December 2023.
IZABRIGHT-Lung02 is a BMS-led global registrational Phase III study evaluating izalontamab brengitecan (iza-bren), an EGFRxHER3 bispecific antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), in previously untreated patients with locally advanced or metastatic EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The study compares iza-bren plus osimertinib with osimertinib alone and with osimertinib plus platinum-based chemotherapy. Biokin did not disclose the specific milestone event that triggered the payment, and the announcement included no clinical efficacy or safety data.
At ASCO 2026, SystImmune and BMS reported positive interim Phase III data for iza-bren in two China-based studies, with significant OS and PFS improvements versus chemotherapy in both previously treated triple-negative breast cancer and recurrent or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. The drug has now met primary endpoints across three Phase III trials, including the earlier PANKU-NPC01 study in nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and China's NMPA approved iza-bren for NPC in June 2026 and ESCC in July 2026, making it the first approved bispecific ADC globally, according to SystImmune.