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.
“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.
