On April 26, 2019 PharmaMar (MSE:PHM) has reported an agreement with Hong Kong listed Luye Pharma Group Ltd. (HKG:2186) to develop and commercialize the marine-inspired anti-tumor compound, lurbinectedin (Zepsyre) in Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC), and potentially in other indications in China, Hong Kong and Macao (Press release, PharmaMar, APR 26, 2019, View Source [SID1234535426]).
Under the terms of this agreement, PharmaMar will receive an up-front payment of US $5 million followed by additional payments for regulatory and sales milestones, as well as double-digit royalties. This income may be increased if other therapeutic indications are approved.
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Luye Pharma will commit to develop lurbinectedin in SCLC in China, while PharmaMar will retain exclusive production rights for the compound.
José María Fernández Sousa-Faro, PhD, President of PharmaMar, commented, "PharmaMar is delighted to team-up with Luye Pharma Group Ltd. for China, a leader in the above mentioned space with an outstanding track record in Oncology, that has successfully brought innovative cancer medicines to Chinese patients."
Rongbing Yang, President of Luye Pharma Group Ltd., said about this new licensing deal: "This agreement with PharmaMar enables us to address the treatment of this type of disease in China, which is much more widespread than in the US and Europe.Oncology is one of the core therapeutic areas for Luye Pharma’s long-term development. We will continue to increase investment to further enrich our oncology pipelines and enhance our competitiveness in this field of treatment, through external partnerships with more innovative companies such as PharmaMar and also through our in-house R&D innovation".
2 According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), China has the highest number of cancer cases in the world, due to population ageing, tobacco and pollution. China is also the country with the highest mortality rate in Asia for lung cancer. This type of tumor affects a larger number of people than in the U.S., Europe and Japan combined. The WHO estimates that by 2020, 800,000 new cases of lung cancer will be diagnosed and will cause nearly 700,000 deaths. It is estimated that SCLC represents approximately 18% of all lung cancers in China.
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