Bristol to Pay Tubulis Up to $1 Billion in Cancer-Drug Deal

Bristol Myers Squibb Co. and German biotech company Tubulis GmbH have agreed to develop cancer-killing drugs known as ADCs, which are gaining attention after Pfizer Inc. made a substantial bet on the same technology.

Bristol will pay Tubulis $22.75 million upfront with the potential for more than $1 billion in development, regulatory and commercial payments plus royalties on marketed products, according to a statement by the biotech firm.

Antibody-drug conjugates, or ADCs, are precision medicines that deliver cancer-killing payloads so potent they might otherwise be too toxic to use. The delivery mechanism uses antibodies to deposit a strong concentration of ...