Incyte Corporation (NASDAQ: INCY) and InnoCare have announced that Incyte and an InnoCare subsidiary have signed a collaboration and license agreement to develop and commercialize tafasitamab in Greater China. Tafasitamab is a humanized Fc-modified cytolytic CD19 targeting monoclonal antibody.
Incyte to receive $35 million in upfront payment
InnoCare will pay Incyte $35 million upfront as part of the agreement. In addition, Incyte will be entitled to up to $82.5 million in future development, commercial and regulatory milestones, and tiered royalties under the terms of the deal. In return, InnoCare will be granted exclusive rights to develop and market tafasitamab in the oncology and hematology fields in mainland China, Macau, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Incyte CEO Herve Hoppenot said, “The collaboration with InnoCare allows us to accelerate the expansion of our partnered portfolio in China. We believe InnoCare will be an excellent partner to accelerate the development of tafasitamab, and if approved, help bring this innovative therapy to patients and healthcare providers in Greater China.”
InnoCare CEO and co-founder Dr. Jasmine Cui said, “We are honored and excited to partner with Incyte, and are committed to making tafasitamab, an FDA-approved treatment, available to eligible patients in Greater China, upon approval. The strategic collaboration with Incyte will not only enhance our strength in the field of hematology and oncology, but also offer us good opportunity to explore the potential clinical benefit of our BTK inhibitor orelabrutinib in combination with tafasitamab.”
Tafasitamab has US FDA approval
Cui added, “We believe that tafasitamab, an innovative CD19 antibody, is critical to solidifying our long-term strategy to strengthen our large molecule capabilities and to enhance combinational therapies with our existing pipelines.” The execution of the transaction is immediately following the partnership and license agreement.
Tafasitamab-cxix has approval from the US FDA as a combination treatment with lenalidomide in treating refractory or relapsed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients no qualifying for autologous stem cell transplant.
