Beijing News (Reporter Zhang Xiulan) Another cooperation between a Chinese and foreign biopharmaceutical company has "fallen through." Tianjing Biotechnology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., a Nasdaq-listed company, recently announced the complete termination of its cooperation agreement with AbbVie Inc. regarding the CD47 monoclonal antibody investigational drug lemzoparlimab and other products.
According to the announcement, the termination of the cooperation was initiated by AbbVie notifying Tianjing Biotechnology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. to terminate the licensing and collaboration agreement regarding certain CD47 antibody compounds and products, which was originally signed on September 3, 2020, and revised on August 15, 2022. The complete termination of the collaboration agreement by AbbVie is based on the progress of prior projects and AbbVie's strategic decisions. Both parties will officially terminate the cooperation on November 20 this year. This also means that all global rights for the development and commercialization of certain CD47 compounds and products will be returned to Tianjing Biotechnology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. Tianjing Biotechnology stated that the termination of the agreement will not affect the $200 million upfront payment and milestone payments received from AbbVie.
AbbVie previously terminated its collaboration with another local company, Jacobio Pharmaceuticals. In May 2020, Jacobio entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with AbbVie worth over $855 million. According to the agreement, as the project progressed, Jacobio was entitled to receive up to $810 million in milestone payments. After the successful market launch of the product, Jacobio would retain full commercial rights in Greater China, while the partner would handle overseas sales, and Jacobio would receive corresponding sales royalties. Following the termination of the agreement, Jacobio will regain global rights to the SHP2 inhibitor previously granted to AbbVie.
Industry insiders have indicated that, with the increase in overseas licensing partnerships by local companies, it is not uncommon to see collaboration terminations in the biopharmaceutical field.
Since the beginning of this year, domestic companies such as InnoCare Pharma and CStone Pharmaceuticals have had their authorized collaborations terminated by their partners. In February this year, Biogen decided to terminate its global development and commercialization collaboration and licensing agreement for the BTK inhibitor orelabrutinib with InnoCare Pharma. The two parties reached the collaboration in 2017, under which Biogen would hold the exclusive global rights to orelabrutinib in the field of multiple sclerosis and exclusive rights in certain autoimmune diseases outside of China (including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan), while InnoCare Pharma retained the exclusive global rights to orelabrutinib in the oncology field and exclusive rights in certain autoimmune diseases within China (including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan). By the time the collaboration was terminated, Biogen had already made a one-time non-refundable and non-creditable upfront payment of $125 million to InnoCare Pharma.
In May, CStone Pharmaceuticals announced the termination of the licensing agreements with EQRx regarding Sugemalimab and Nofazinlimab. Sugemalimab is a PD-L1 monoclonal antibody developed by CStone Pharmaceuticals. It is a fully human full-length PD-L1 immunoglobulin 4 (IgG4) monoclonal antibody, which carries a lower risk of inducing immunogenicity and related toxicity in patients. CStone Pharmaceuticals stated that the termination of the agreements will not affect the upfront payment and milestone payments already received from EQRx.
In September, BeiGene terminated the previous licensing agreement with Novartis, and BeiGene Switzerland regained all global rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize tislelizumab. In January 2021, BeiGene Switzerland granted Novartis the rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize tislelizumab in the United States, Canada, Mexico, EU member states, the United Kingdom, Norway, and other regions. According to the licensing agreement, Novartis was responsible for regulatory submissions in the licensed countries and had the right to conduct commercial activities after approval.
Proofread by Liu Yue