Fosun Pharma has penned its third inflammatory disease pact in three weeks, plucking up China rights to a clinical-stage treatment from Accro Bioscience.
Shanghai-based Fosun is putting down 60 million Chinese Yuan ($8.3 million) upfront and offering 20 million Chinese Yuan ($2.8 million) in near-term milestones contingent on a manufacturing tech transfer, according to an Aug. 29 release.
Fosun is further offering Chinese biotech Accro up to 76 million Chinese Yuan ($10.6 million) in development milestone payments, plus potential commercial milestones and royalties.
In exchange, Fosun will gain exclusive rights to Accro’s TYK2/JAK1 inhibitor in Greater China, while the biotech will hang on to the asset’s remaining global rights.
The candidate, called AC-201, is an oral small molecule in development for immune-mediated inflammatory diseases.
Accro has wrapped up phase 2 testing for AC-201 in moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. The trial met its primary endpoint after 12 weeks of treatment, according to the release. The candidate was found to be generally safe and well tolerated, with no serious adverse events reported and no adverse events leading to discontinuation.
For Accro, AC-201 is one of three clinical candidates, alongside a RIPK2 inhibitor and a RIPK1 inhibitor that have both gone through phase 1 testing. The biotech is based in Suzhou and focuses on the molecular mechanisms of regulated cell death.
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As for Fosun, the deal bolsters the pharma’s efforts to build out its immunology and inflammation pipeline. The pharma has made I&I half of its core strategy, with oncology making up the other key focus.
Just a few days ago, the company outlicensed an inflammatory disease candidate to a Western biotech, Sitala Bio, for up to $670 million.
A couple of weeks earlier, Fosun offered up ex-China rights for an investigational DPP-1 inhibitor to Expedition Therapeutics, a U.S.-based biotech aiming to bring China-developed candidates stateside for global development.
