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Two employees in pharmaceutical industry wearing protective gloves, mask, cap and white suit seen standing by the machine that is the part of the medicaments production during the working hours in a pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Extreme-photographer | E+ | Getty Images
Shares of Innovent Biologics rose 10% after the company entered into a deal with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer to develop oncology medicines.
The partnership, which includes licensing, co-development, and co-commercialization opportunities across a diverse portfolio of antibody-drug conjugates, will involve the research and development of 12 breakthrough early-stage and de novo cancer medicines, the company said in a filing.
Innovent will develop four global programs with Pfizer, sharing costs. In addition, the Hong Kong-listed biotech company will co-commercialize with Pfizer in the U.S. and Europe and share profits, though Innovent will retain rights to these programs in the Greater China market.
Innovent will receive an upfront payment of $650 million and is eligible to receive up to $9.85 billion in development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments, which would bring the total value of the deal to up to $10.5 billion.
"Additionally, Innovent will receive up to double-digit royalties on sales of each product if approved," the company said, adding that closing of the transaction is subjected to regulatory approvals.
Partnerships between biotech firms and pharmaceutical companies are in focus amid concerns over the rise of oncology-related diseases globally.
"Large pharmaceutical companies, in particular, utilized licensing as a surgical tool to address near-term pipeline gaps ahead of the "2026–2030 patent cliff," according to a report by Gibson Dunn.
Innovent shares were up 6.41% to HK$79.65.
