Lilly’s Phase 1 Tibulizumab Shows <5% Immunogenicity, Zura Launches 225-Patient Phase 2
Eli Lilly licensed tibulizumab to Zura Bio in 2023, leveraging tabalumab’s BAFF program and Taltz’s CDRs to engineer a bispecific IL-17A/BAFF antibody with drug-like properties. Lilly’s Phase 1 data in 78 subjects showed under 5% immunogenicity, supporting Zura’s expansion to a 225-patient Phase 2 in HS and SSc.
1. Licensing and Antibody Design
Eli Lilly licensed tibulizumab to Zura Bio in 2023, providing sequences from its tabalumab BAFF program and CDRs from ixekizumab to engineer a bispecific IL-17A/BAFF antibody with optimized drug-like properties.
2. Phase 1 Immunogenicity Data
Lilly’s Phase 1 trials in 78 subjects across healthy volunteers and autoimmune cohorts reported under 5% treatment-emergent anti-drug antibodies, indicating low immunogenicity for the bispecific molecule.
3. Phase 2 Trial Expansion
Zura Bio has expanded its hidradenitis suppurativa Phase 2 trial to 225 biologic-naïve patients with abscess and nodule count as the primary endpoint, with results expected in Q4 2026 and systemic sclerosis data due in 1H 2027.