As per the strategic partnership and license agreement terms, Innovent will obtain an exclusive right for developing and commercialising the therapy in China.
For the China rights, LG Chem will receive total amount of up to $95.5m including $10m upfront payment, milestones, along with tiered royalties on net sales of the product in the country.
Tigulixostat showed serum uric acid (sUA)-lowering effects in all dose levels, in a Phase II clinical trial conducted in the US (CLUE Study).
Additionally, the therapy attained sUA<5mg/dL treatment target as the primary endpoint at month three with all dose groups against placebo and with Febuxostat.
In the fourth quarter of this year, LG Chem commenced multi-regional global Phase III clinical trials for Tigulixostat.
LG Chem Life Sciences Company president Dr Jeewoong Son said: “Tigulixostat will provide a better treatment option for gout patients in near future, and our collaboration with Innovent will accelerate the global development of Tigulixostat with the goal of bringing a potentially impactful treatment option to the patient with high unmet medical needs.
“We are very excited to enter into this strategic collaboration which is a major milestone for LG Chem as we are building global biotechnology and R&D capabilities, and hope to maximize the potential of Tigulixostat through this collaboration.
“We look forward to collaborating with Innovent to expedite the development of Tigulixostat and to commercialise the new XOI drug, based on the strong and broad experience and expertise of both companies.”
Tigulixostat is under development as a first line treatment in the US.