Pharmaceutical Business Progress in China and Worldwide (April)

On April 3, DualityBio announced an exclusive agreement on licensing and cooperation with BioNTech for two antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) pipelines, DB-1303 and DB-1311. BioNTech will gain the rights to develop, produce, and commercialize the two ADCs worldwide (excluding the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, and Macau), while DualityBio will retain the rights to develop, produce, and commercialize the two ADCs in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, and Macao. In the future, DualityBio will have the option to exercise its joint development and sales on the American market as part of the DB-1311 agreement. 

On April 5, Proxygen announced that it has entered into a long-term agreement on research partnership and licensing with MSD to jointly identify and develop molecular colloid degradation agents for multiple therapeutic targets. Under the terms of the agreement, Proxygen will receive an advance payment from MSD and, based on the achievement of specific research, development, and commercial milestones in all projects, obtain future payments of up to USD 2.55 billion. In addition, Proxygen is eligible for royalties on net sales of any such product. 

On April 11, Akeso, Inc. announced that its joint venture with Chiatai Tianqing, CTTQ-AKESO Biomedical, had signed a cooperation and licensing agreement with Specialized Therapeutics (ST), granting ST the interest of exclusive sale of PD-1 Penpulimab injection (brand name: 安尼可) in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and 11 Southeast Asian countries, including Singapore and Malaysia. 

On April 12, Aspect Biosystems and Novo Nordisk announced their agreement to jointly develop bioprinting tissue therapies to replace, repair, or complement biological functions in the body, thus providing a novel class of treatments for diabetes and obesity. Under the terms of the agreement, Novo Nordisk will obtain a global exclusive license to develop up to four products targeting diabetes or obesity using Aspect's bioprinting technology. 

On April 13, Pyramid Biosciences announced an exclusive licensing agreement with GeneQuantum on the global development and commercialization of an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting TROP2, GQ1010, excluding the Greater China (the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan). 

On April 18, GSK announced an acquisition agreement with BELLUS, under which GSK will acquire BELLUS at USD14.75/share, with a total transaction of USD2 billion (£1.6 billion). Upon completion of the acquisition, GSK will own camlipixant, the core product of BELLUS. Camlipixant, a highly selective P2X3 receptor antagonist with best-in-class potential, is currently in phase III clinical trials for the first-line treatment of patients with refractory chronic cough (RCC). 

On April 19, Senlang Bio announced an agreement on licensing and cooperation VaxcellBio, granting its developed nanobody product, BCMA-CART, to VaxcellBio. Under the agreement, VaxcellBio will lead the product registration, declaration, clinical trials, and going on sale in Korea; At the same time, the two parties will, relying on their respective strengths, work together to develop the product for multiple myeloma, BCMA-CAR-MIL, and promote the multiple myeloma cell product to be available early in Korea. 

On April 27, Nektar disclosed in the SEC document that Eli Lilly had decided to return the total development interest in NKTR-358 of the IL-2 therapy. NKTR-358 is an IL-2 conjugate designed by Nektar through a polymeric conjugation technique. In July 2017, when the data of the phase I clinical trial for NKTR-358 had not been revealed, Eli Lilly obtained a worldwide interest in NKTR-358 at a total transaction value of USD400 million. 

On April 27, MediLink Therapeutics and Zai Lab co-announced an agreement on strategic cooperation and exclusive worldwide licensing. Through this collaboration, MediLink Therapeutics exclusively grants the global development and commercialization interest in the next-generation DLL3 antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), YL212 project, to Zai Lab and its subsidiaries.