A Fosun Pharma subsidiary has paid Junshi Biosciences 215 million yuan ($32 million) for Chinese rights to a near-approval autoimmune disease drug.
The deal grants the wholly owned subsidiary, Fosun Wanbang Pharmaceutical, rights to roconkibart in Greater China. Roconkibart is an anti-IL-17A antibody that Junshi has developed in moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. A Chinese phase 3 trial of the candidate, which is also called JS005, hit its primary endpoint, leading Junshi to apply for approval in its home market last year.
Fosun Wanbang has stepped in to develop, register and commercialize the asset in Greater China under an exclusive license. The deal also gives the company a co-exclusive license to manufacture the product in Greater China.
The Fosun subsidiary is paying the upfront fee, committing up to 1.12 billion yuan ($166 million) in milestones and agreeing to pay double-digit tiered royalties on net sales for the rights. The milestones are split (PDF) between 180 million yuan ($27 million) tied to product development and 945 million yuan ($139 million) based on sales.
Fosun Wanbang will enter a competitive market. Novartis won approval for its IL-17A inhibitor Cosentyx in plaque psoriasis in China in 2019. Since then, the list of IL-17A drugs approved for psoriasis in China has grown to include Eli Lilly’s Taltz, Suzhou Suncadia Biopharmaceutical’s vunakizumab, Genrix Biopharmaceutical’s xeligekimab, UCB’s Bimzelx and Akeso’s gumokimab. CSPC Pharmaceutical recently won (PDF) approval for a Cosentyx biosimilar.
Roconkibart is unlikely to be the last IL-17A inhibitor that Chinese authorities approve in the indication. Livzon Pharmaceutical’s lecankitug, which like Bimzelx targets IL-17A and IL-17F, beat (PDF) Cosentyx in a head-to-head psoriasis trial and is under review in China.
Fosun Wanbang will enter the fight for market share equipped with phase 3 data showing 91% of people on roconkibart had at least a 90% improvement in symptoms after 16 weeks. By Week 52, 65% of people had a 100% improvement. The data are in line with results for Akeso’s recently approved gumokimab, which achieved a 100% improvement in 68.9% of patients at Week 52.