A $3 million technology transfer agreement with Florida-based Nascent Biotech ($NBIO) has allowed Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceuticals to get China license rights to epithelial mAb oncology early-stage candidate pritumumab, which is slated for U.S. trials by the end of next year after getting U.S. Orphan Drug status for brain and pancreatic cancers.
Under the terms of the license deal, Hisun gets exclusive right in China and will handle manufacturing as well in return for the Master Cell Bank and related technology from Nascent to pursue the full range of clinical and regulatory work in China. Other financial details were not disclosed.
Nascent said the candidate is a potential first-in-class therapy across oncology.
“There are significant unmet medical needs in a variety of cancers,” Sean Carrick, president of Nascent Biotech said in a release.
“Nascent is committed to changing patient expectations in some of the world’s most debilitating cancers, and licensing pritumumab to Hisun for therapeutic use in China will bring this promising treatment to significantly more patients who are in need. We’re highly encouraged by the potential of Pritumumab to deliver an innovative, first-in-class treatment option, and we are delighted to be working closely with Hisun in this collaboration.”
The candidate has its origins in Japan, according to Nascent, which noted on its website that it has undergone "various Phase II clinical trials in Japan patients with brain cancer treated with pritumumab showed an overall response rate between 25–30% with several survivors beyond 5-years post-treatment.”
“Toxicities were minimal suggesting Pritumumab is a safe and effective therapeutic agent for the treatment of patients with brain cancer."
The earlier work on pritumumab was done at the Hagiwara Institute of Health.
Pfizer ($PFE) has a major joint venture with Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceuticals formed in 2012 under the name Hisun-Pfizer Pharmaceuticals.
- here's the Hisun release (Chinese language)
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