Pharmaceutical Business in China and Worldwide (August)(2023)

1.   On August 7, Yabao Pharmaceutical announced that it had signed a technology transfer agreement with Shanxi University. Yabao Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. acquired the clinical trial approval, patent rights and related technical data of Chaigui granules of Category 6.1 (current classification 1.1) of traditional Chinese medicine owned by Shanxi University for 26 million yuan. Chaigui granules are mainly used for soothing the liver and relieving depression, strengthening the spleen and nourishing blood, and are suitable for mild and moderate depression and liver depression and spleen deficiency syndrome.

2.   On August 8, CanSinoBIO announced that it had signed a product supply cooperation framework agreement with AstraZeneca. CanSino will provide contract development and manufacturing services to AstraZeneca to support its mRNA vaccine program, manufacture and supply specific products, and provide related specific services. CanSino's mRNA technology platform can obtain the key sites that affect stability and the optimal sequence that can effectively improve antigen expression.

3.   On August 10, Huadong Medicine and Arcutis announced that they have reached a strategic cooperation and licensing agreement for the development, production and commercialization of roflumilast in Greater China and Southeast Asia. Huadong Medicine will receive an exclusive license for a new generation of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) inhibitors, Roflumilast creams and foam formulations, for the treatment of a variety of skin conditions, including plaque psoriasis, seborrheic dermatitis and atopic dermatitis, as well as other skin conditions in the future.

4.   On August 10, Novo Nordisk and Inversago Pharma announced that Novo Nordisk will acquire Inversago for up to $1.075 billion in cash, if certain development and commercial milestones are met. Inversago is a privately held company based in Montreal, Canada, focused on developing CB1 receptor-based therapeutics for the treatment of obesity, diabetes, and complications related to metabolic disorders. Inversago's lead asset is INV-202, an oral CB1 reversible agonist.

5.   On August 11, Antengene and Hansoh Pharma announced that they have signed a cooperation agreement to commercialize selinexor tablets (trade name: XPIO) and other products containing or consisting of selinexor in Chinese mainland. Antengene will receive an upfront payment of up to RMB200 million and milestone payments of up to RMB535 million from Hansoh Therapeutics. Selinexor is an orally selective nuclear export protein (XPO1) inhibitor with a novel mechanism.

6.   On August 14, Hengrui Pharmaceuticals announced that it had reached a cooperation agreement with OneBio to license the exclusive rights and interests of the development, production and commercialization of SHR-1905 injection, a new class 1 drug, to OneBio worldwide, except for Greater China. The latter will make an upfront payment of $25 million and near-term milestone payments, $1.025 billion in R&D and sales milestones, and a percentage of sales shares. SHR-1905 is a thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) monoclonal antibody.

7.   On August 21, CARsgen announced that it has initiated a collaboration agreement with Mederna to study the combination effect of CARsgen's CT041 with Medina's investigational Claudin18.2 mRNA cancer vaccine. CT041 is an autologous CAR-T cell product candidate targeting Claudin18.2 protein developed by CARsgen for the treatment of Claudin18.2-positive solid tumors, mainly for the treatment of gastric/esophagogastric junction adenocarcinoma and pancreatic cancer.