Chinese Innovative Drug Developers Forge Global Partnerships: Five Biotechs Secure Major Deals with Multinational Pharma Giants in Early 2024

　　【Pharmaceutical Network Industry Dynamics] According to the review, at the beginning of 2024, Xinruinuo Pharmaceutical, Allorion Therapeutics, Ribo Life Science, JW Therapeutics, and MediLink have all successfully licensed their drugs overseas. The enthusiasm for Chinese innovative drugs "going global" has surged once again.
 

It was reported that on January 5, Novartis announced an agreement to acquire Xinruinuo Pharmaceutical. According to the agreement, Novartis will acquire the remaining shares of Xinruinuo Pharmaceutical. After the transaction is completed, Xinruinuo Pharmaceutical will be fully integrated into Novartis China. Data shows that Xinruinuo Pharmaceutical is a clinical-stage Chinese biotechnology company focusing on kidney diseases and related therapeutic areas. This acquisition is expected to expand Novartis' renal disease product portfolio in China, enrich its future pipeline, and better meet the treatment needs of renal patients in China.
 

Novartis stated that, after the integration, Novartis will leverage its mature experience in drug development and commercialization to accelerate the commercial launch of Xinruinuo Pharmaceutical's pipeline products, improving health and extending the lives of patients with kidney diseases.
 

On January 4, Allorion Therapeutics reached a cooperation agreement with U.S.-based pharmaceutical company Avenzo to license the global (excluding Greater China) rights of CDK2 inhibitor ARTS-021 and another preclinical project to the latter. Avenzo paid a $40 million upfront payment, with additional payments for research and development milestones as well as commercialization milestones. The total value of the agreement exceeds $1 billion.
 

Data shows that Allorion Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the research and development of novel small-molecule drugs for treating cancer and autoimmune diseases. It is reported that entering 2024, the "immense wealth" gained by Allorion Therapeutics did not stop there. On January 2nd, the company also granted AstraZeneca global rights to its new allosteric inhibitor drug targeting EGFR L858R mutations. AstraZeneca will pay a $40 million upfront and near-term payment, up to $500 million in additional payments, as well as tiered royalties on global net sales.
 

On January 3, Suzhou Ribo Life Science Co., Ltd. also announced a collaboration with Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim to jointly develop innovative small nucleic acid therapies for the treatment of non-alcoholic or metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (NASH/MASH). According to the terms of the collaboration, in addition to receiving an upfront payment, Ribo will be entitled to milestone payments based on clinical research, drug registration, and commercial success, as well as tiered royalties on sales of the marketed product within this multi-target collaboration project. The total transaction value exceeds 2 billion US dollars.
 

On January 2, MediLink announced a global collaboration and licensing agreement with Roche for the next-generation antibody-drug conjugate (ADC). According to the agreement, both parties will collaborate to develop YL211, a next-generation ADC candidate targeting c-MET (mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor), for the treatment of solid tumors. This collaboration will bring MediLink an upfront payment and near-term milestone payments totaling $50 million, potential development, registration, and commercialization milestone payments of up to nearly $1 billion, as well as future royalties based on global annual net sales.
 

JW Therapeutics signed an exclusive cooperation agreement with 2seventy bio on January 1, 2024, to collaboratively develop and commercialize Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy products for the treatment of autoimmune diseases in the Greater China region. According to the cooperation agreement, JW Therapeutics is also eligible to receive development, regulatory, and sales milestones from 2seventy bio amounting to a high double-digit million US dollars as well as royalties based on global net sales (excluding Greater China).
 

According to the review, in nearly 40 days from December 2023 to the present, there have been twelve licensing deals or acquisition transfers between multinational pharmaceutical companies and Chinese biotech firms. The Chinese pharmaceutical companies involved include MediLink, Gracell Biotechnologies, and Hansoh Pharma, among others. The multinational corporations (MNCs) include Roche, Boehringer Ingelheim, Pfizer, Astellas, and AstraZeneca, among others.
 

Industry insiders said that the inclusion of domestically produced innovative drugs into the strategic layout of multinational pharmaceutical companies, on the one hand, indicates that these drugs are at the forefront of R&D progress in their respective fields, capable of addressing unmet clinical needs with a higher likelihood of market success; on the other hand, it also reflects the deepening integration of multinational pharmaceutical companies into China's pharmaceutical market. Both aspects demonstrate that China's innovative drug industry is gaining stronger innovation capabilities.
 

Disclaimer: Under no circumstances shall the information or opinions expressed in this article constitute investment advice to any person.