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Eric Ng

Two Chinese drug developers have signed licensing deals that could yield as much as US$2.5 billion in performance-based payments, underscoring growing international confidence in China’s life sciences sector.
Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group has agreed to license global rights – excluding mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan – to develop and market a colon cancer drug candidate to F Hoffmann-La Roche, a unit of Swiss-based biotech giant Roche.
Hansoh, a major psychotropic and cancer drugs developer based in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, would get US$80 million upfront and up to US$1.45 billion in milestone payments tied to development, regulatory approval and commercial success of the product, it said in a filing to Hong Kong’s stock exchange on Friday.
“The company will leverage on this opportunity to maximise the scientific and commercial value of the group’s technology platforms,” it said.
The candidate is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) that targets the liver-intestine cadherin molecule, which is strongly associated with the development and progression of gastrointestinal cancers.
An ADC combines a laboratory-produced monoclonal antibody with a chemotherapy drug. After the antibody binds to proteins on cancer cells, it releases a chemotherapy payload that kills malignant cells while sparing healthy ones.
The drug candidate was undergoing early-stage phase one clinical trials in both China and the United States, Hansoh said.
Hansoh’s shares gained 2.1 per cent to close at HK$36.50 , compared with the Hang Seng Index’s 1.44 per cent decline.
Chinese drug makers have accelerated efforts to license their therapies abroad. Some 95 “out-licensing” deals worth US$89 billion in potential payments were struck by Chinese firms this year up to August 24, accounting for 33 per cent of the global total – nearly double last year’s 17 per cent – according to a September 14, Changjiang Securities report.
Such agreements were driven by multinational pharmaceutical firms seeking to cut costs and replenish drug-development pipelines as they approached the so-called “patent cliff” when patents on blockbuster products expire, analysts said.

The availability of good mid-stage drug candidates from China at prices far below those in the US biotech market was pushing big multinationals to seek licensing deals with Chinese firms.
Meanwhile, Nanjing Leads Biolabs struck an exclusive global licensing agreement with US-based Dianthus Therapeutics to jointly develop its autoimmune disease drug candidate, it said in a Hong Kong stock exchange filing late on Thursday.
“The company will leverage this opportunity to partner with Dianthus, a recognised leader with deep expertise in developing transformative medicines for patients suffering from severe autoimmune disorders,” Leads Biolabs said.
Under the deal, Leads Biolabs would get US$25 million before the end of the year, followed by US$13 million tied to near-term development milestones. Up to US$1 billion in additional payments could follow upon meeting clinical development, regulatory and commercial milestones.
The drug candidate aims to treat autoimmune diseases by simultaneously targeting two immune cell types known to cause the immune system to mistakenly attack the body’s own tissues.
Leads Biolabs has obtained regulatory approval to conduct clinical trials in both the US and mainland China.
Its shares fell 1.89 per cent to HK$65, after rising as much as 5.7 per cent earlier.


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Two mainland biotech firms win global attention as Roche and Dianthus sign major licensing pacts, highlighting China’s growing role in next-generation drug development


Two mainland biotech firms win global attention as Roche and Dianthus sign major licensing pacts, highlighting China’s growing role in next-generation drug development.
