(Reuters) -China’s Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals said on Wednesday it has agreed to grant a paid license for its innovative cancer drug trastuzumab rezetecan to the Swiss unit of India’s Glenmark Pharmaceuticals.
Under the agreement, Hengrui will receive an upfront payment of $18 million and can get milestone payments of up to $1.09 billion from Glenmark Specialty S.A. The Chinese firm will also be eligible for royalties on net sales of the drug in the licensed territories.
The deal gives the Indian company rights to a drug from a class called antibody drug conjugate. These drugs work like “guided missiles” by killing tumor cells while leaving healthy ones unharmed.
Their targeted approach has led to billions in investment from pharmaceutical giants such as US-based Merck, Roche and AstraZeneca in recent years.
Hengrui’s license gives the Glenmark unit exclusive rights to develop and commercialize the drug worldwide, excluding Mainland China, the Hong Kong and Macao SARs, Taiwan, the U.S., Europe and a few other regions, the Indian company said.
The drug was approved in China in May to treat an advanced form of non-small cell lung cancer after patients had tried at least one other treatment. Additional clinical studies on the drug are ongoing.
China’s regulator is also reviewing the drug for several other forms of cancer.
The agreement will remain in force until the expiration of the royalty term for trastuzumab rezetecan, Hengrui said.
(Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)
