Clinical-stage oncology company Jacobio Pharma has out-licensed China rights of its drugs, glecirasib and JAB-3312 to Shanghai Allist Pharmaceuticals.
Glecirasib is a potent, and highly selective, covalent KRAS G12C inhibitor, which showed significant synergistic anti-tumour effects when combined with an SHP2 inhibitor.
JAB-3312 is a highly selective SHP2 allosteric inhibitor, approved by the US FDA, to enter clinical development and FDA’s orphan drug designation for oesophagal cancer.
Allist is a China-based drug developer, producer and seller focused on oncotherapy that targets the demand of the global pharmaceutical market.
Under the terms of the agreement, Allist will obtain rights to commercialise glecirasib and JAB-3312 in China, including mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.
In exchange, Jacobio would receive around RMB200m ($28.12m), including RMB150m upfront payment, and around RMB50m in research and development expenses and other costs.
It would also receive potential milestone payments of up to RMB700m, contingent on achieving certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones.
In addition, Jacobio is entitled to receive tiered royalty payments on net sales of glecirasib and JAB-3312, among which the royalty payments on JAB-3312 are up to 20%.
Jacobio chairman and CEO Wang Yinxiang said: “Allist has strong commercialization capabilities in the field of lung cancer, and the first indication for glecirasib submitted the new drug application is lung cancer.
“We believe that with the deep fit of the advantages of both parties, this collaboration will demonstrate great clinical and commercial value.
“In addition to the cooperation with glecirasib, Allist also licensed the SHP2 inhibitor JAB-3312, which is the first SHP2 inhibitor entering a registrational trial globally.”
In December 2022, glecirasib monotherapy received breakthrough therapy designation (BTD) from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA)’s Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE).
The BTD indicated the drug for the second-line and above treatment of patients with advanced or metastatic NSCLC with KRAS G12C mutation.
In April this year, Jacobio published data from the Phase 3 study of glecirasib in the ASCO Plenary Series, which showed positive results in patients with second-line NSCLC.
The drug showed an objective response rate (cORR) of 47.9%, disease control rate (DCR) of 86.3%, median progression-free survival (mPFS) of 8.2 months, and median overall survival (mOS) of 13.6 months.
Last month, the first patient was dosed in a Phase 3 clinical trial of glecirasib plus JAB-3312, compared to the standard care, in front-line KRAS G12C mutant NSCLC.
Allist chairman and general manager Jinhao Du said: “We are pleased to cooperate with Jacobio, and the cooperation will surely benefit the growth of both companies.
“For many years, Allist has taken ‘Technology Cares for Life’ as our corporate mission, focusing on scientific exploration and drug development in the field of cancer therapies, and is committed to developing and introducing superior pipelines consisting of best-in-class and first-in-class drugs.
“While we successfully independently developed and launched furmonertinib, we have built a commercial team that focuses on lung cancer, has professional academic promotion capabilities, and has a wide sales channel coverage.”
