Shionogi & Co has concluded an agreement with China’s Eddingpharm to license-out its thrombopoietin receptor agonist lusutrombopag.
Under the agreement, Shionogi will grant the exclusive license rights of the drug to Eddingpharm in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.
Shionogi will be responsible for supplying the product to Eddingpharm and will receive both an upfront payment and additional milestone sums in return.
Lusutrombopag is an orally active, small molecule agonist of the human thrombopoietin receptor that has already secured approval in the US, EU and Japan. The two companies agreed to cooperate on submitting further regulatory applications for the drug worldwide.
Shionogi has also concluded an agreement with EOC Pharma to license-out epertinib, an human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) / epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor that is designed to treat brain metastasis in patients with advanced metastatic breast cancer.
Under the licensing agreement, EOC will obtain the rights to develop, manufacture and market epertinib in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. The company will begin developing the product in mainland China.
Shionogi will be eligible for an upfront payment and milestone payments based on the progress of the product development, as well as royalties on the post-launch sales.
Originated by Shionogi, epertinib is expected to demonstrate an anti-tumour effect on breast cancer brain metastasis.
Studies conducted so far have demonstrated that epertinib has a favourable anti-tumour effect on patients with breast cancer after HER2 molecular targeted therapy.
Furthermore, non-clinical studies have revealed that the migration of the drug to the brain was superior compared to lapatinib.
