Pharmaceutical Business in China and Worldwide (June)

1. On June 2, Impact Therapeutics announced that it had reached a cooperation with Eikon Therapeutics, signing an exclusive authorization and cooperation agreement on IMP1734 and other PARP1 selective inhibitors. According to the agreement, Eikon has the exclusive right to develop, produce and commercialize in all regions except Greater China. IMP1734 is a highly selective PARP1 inhibitor self-developed by Impact Therapeutics, which is expected to enter the phase I clinical trial in 2023.

2. On June 6, Seven and Eight Biopharmaceuticals Inc. announced that it had signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Eikon Therapeutics, authorizing Eikon to develop and commercialize its new immunomodulator, TLR7/8 agonist, globally. TLRs are a kind of innate immune sensors, which can identify conservative microbial structures. The activation of TLR can initiate innate and adaptive immune responses.

3. On June 6, WuXi ATU announced that it had reached a strategic cooperation agreement with T-MAXIMUM, an American company of Maoxing Biotechnology, which it will provide integrated testing, process development, batch production declaration and IND declaration for MT-027 universal CAR-T cell products of Maoxing Biotechnology in America. MT-027 is a universal allogeneic CAR-T cell therapy product targeting B7-H3 self-developed by Maoxing Biotechnology, with the indication of recurrent high-grade glioma.

4. On June 12, Novartis announced that it had reached an agreement and merger plan with Chinook with a total value of about US$3.5 billion, which is expected to be completed in the second half of 2023. Chinook is a clinical biomedical company that develops precise drugs for kidney disease, among which atrasentan is in the fastest progress. Atrasentan is an endothelin receptor antagonist in phase III clinical stage, which is intended to be used to treat IgA nephropathy and proteinuria glomerulopathy. 

5. On June 13, Sino Biopharm announced that it had reached a cooperation agreement with Gmax Biopharm to jointly develop an innovative drug GMA106 with double targets to lose weight. Gmax Biopharm will get the down payment and milestone payment of up to US$57 million, while Sino Biopharm will get the exclusive development and commercialization rights of GMA106 in Greater China. GMA106 is a GIPR antagonist / GLP-1R activator developed by Gmax Biopharm.

6. On June 15, Astellas Pharma Inc. announced that it had reached a research cooperation and exclusive option agreement with Cullgen to discover multiple protein degradation therapies. According to the agreement, the two companies aim to develop multiple targeted protein degradation therapies by combining Cullgen's targeted protein degradation platform uSMITE with a new E3 ligand and the drug discovery capability of Astellas Pharma Inc. The total amount of this cooperation is more than US$1.9 billion.

7. On June 26, Remegen announced that it had reached a cooperation agreement on clinical research and drug supply with Innovent. According to the agreement, Innovent will provide PD-1 monoclonal antibody Sintilimab injection, and Remegen will conduct a phase I/IIa clinical study in China to evaluate the safety, tolerance and preliminary curative effect of ADC RC88 (targeting MSLN) or RC108 (targeting c-MET) combined with Sintilimab injection in China tumor patients. 

8. On June 30, Eisai announced that it had reached an agreement with DRI Healthcare. According to the cooperation agreement, all future economic rights and interests of Elacestrant will be transferred to the latter. Elacestrant is the first oral SERD approved by FDA. 

Listing 

HKEX

1. On June 12, Cutia Therapeutics officially listed on the HKEX. Cutia Therapeutics is a R&D biopharmaceutical company focusing on dermatology, which has one core product and eight other pipeline candidate products at present. According to prospectus, the IPO of the company is on the HKEX, and the CStone Pharmaceuticals' investors include Harvest, Xinhongdi Venture Capital and So-YoungHK. 

2. On June 29, Laekna, Inc. officially listed on the HKEX. At present, there are 2 core products and 14 other pipeline candidate products under research in Laekna, Inc., covering diseases such as cancer, liver fibrosis and rare diseases. Among them, LAE002, the core product, is expected to be submitted a new drug application (NDA) in China and US in the fourth quarter of 2023.

About  the Author:    

Caicai, a Master of Pharmacy from Shanghai Jiaotong University, used to work in the Institute of Science and Technical Information. Currently as a practitioner in the drug surveillance system, she is good at interpreting industry regulations, pharmaceutical research developments, etc.