Aligos Therapeutics has secured a $25 million cash infusion in return for selling the China rights to its phase 2-stage chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) treatment to hepatology biopharma Amoytop.
California’s Aligos already has a relationship with Fujian, China-based Amoytop focused on a preclinical antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) program, also aimed at HBV infection. The latest deal centers on pevifoscorvir sodium, a capsid assembly modulator (CAM-E).
Aligos has taken pevifoscorvir sodium into a phase 2 study where it’s going head-to-head with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, a widely used antiviral marketed by Gilead as Viread. Topline data are expected to read out next year.
The biotech has touted pevifoscorvir sodium’s dual mechanisms of action as a way to not only prevent HBV DNA integration, but also reduce the covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) reservoir. Current nucleos(t)ide analog treatments for HBV fail to eradicate this reservoir, allowing the virus to continue to replicate in liver cells.
In return for the rights in Greater China, Amoytop is paying $25 million and has pledged up to $420 million in clinical, regulatory and sales milestones, along with tiered, high single-digit royalties should pevifoscorvir sodium make it to market in the region.
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Aligos, which entered the year with $77.8 million in the bank, said this morning’s deal extends its cash runway from the third to the fourth quarter of 2026.
Amoytop is an established player in China’s hepatology market thanks to Pegbing, which became the world’s first functional cure for HBV to secure an approval anywhere when Chinese regulators gave it the green light in October 2025.
Aligos CEO Lawrence Blatt, Ph.D., said he believes pairing pevifoscorvir sodium with Pegbing—along with the ASO collaboration—will “enable differentiated combination regimens and more personalized treatment approaches for patients with chronic HBV infection across Greater China.”
“As the leading provider of pegylated interferon for chronic HBV infection in Mainland China, Amoytop is well positioned to commercialize pevifoscorvir sodium across the licensed territories,” Blatt continued.
“With a robust commercial organization comprised of sales representatives focused on the hepatology field, Amoytop has the scale and expertise to support broad adoption,” the CEO added. “Amoytop’s strong reach in the Mainland China hepatology market is expected to accelerate the development of pevifoscorvir sodium for chronic HBV suppression compared to Aligos developing in the region.”
Elsewhere, GSK is gearing up to take its own “functional cure” for HBV to regulators this year after the Big Pharma hit the primary endpoints of a pair of phase 3 studies for its Ionis Pharmaceuticals-partnered ASO bepirovirsen. And Arbutus just yesterday said it received FDA fast track designation for its RNAi therapeutic, imdusiran, for the treatment of chronic HBV.
