Within hours of securing a gastrointestinal drug from Korea’s Hanmi Pharma, Eli Lilly has ramped up the biobucks for a wider-ranging pact with China’s Haisco Pharmaceutical.
The companies are keeping the details under wraps for now, with Haisco only saying that the agreement spans “up to five innovative target programs” across “multiple therapeutic areas.” Lilly will take the lead on IND-enabling studies and beyond, with the U.S. pharma either owning the global rights or the rights outside of Greater China, depending on the program.
In return, Lilly is stumping up $87 million in upfront and near-term payments, with Haisco also eligible for up to $2.97 billion in additional milestone payments as well as single-digit tiered royalties should any of the resulting therapies make it to market.
“This collaboration is highly aligned with our international development strategy and is expected to generate sustainable value and long-term returns,” Haisco CEO Pangke Yan said in a June 1 release.
“By partnering with a global biopharmaceutical leader such as Lilly, Haisco aims to accelerate the global development of innovative therapies and deliver high-quality treatment options to patients worldwide,” the CEO added.
Founded in 2000, Haisco has built up a portfolio of over 50 R&D programs spanning pain management, oncology, respiratory diseases, autoimmune disorders, metabolic diseases and central nervous system disorders. The biotech, which has established R&D outposts in Chengdu, Shanghai and Silicon Valley, has already moved more than 10 programs into pivotal trials.
It’s hard to guess exactly where the Lilly deal will lead. Haisco’s other U.S. Big Pharma partnership this year involved a $745 million deal with AbbVie for a pair of non-opioid pain treatments. The Chinese biotech also licensed a clinical-stage lung disease asset to Frazier Life Sciences’ AirNexis Therapeutics in a $955 million agreement in January.
For Lilly, the agreement with Haisco comes amid a wide-ranging push by the pharma to spend its Zepbound billions bulking out its portfolio on various fronts. This year’s shopping spree has included buying a pair of in vivo CAR-T biotechs, along with a trio of vaccine companies and next-gen JAK inhibitor biotech Ajax Therapeutics, to name just a few.
Hours before the Haisco deal was announced, Lilly penned a $1.2 billion pact to license a GLP-2 agonist from Korea’s Hanmi that’s in phase 2 development for short bowel syndrome.
