(Yicai Global) May 11 -- Amoytop Biotech is teaming up with Aligos Therapeutics to develop a hepatitis treatment in China using the US biopharmaceutical firm’s unique nucleic acid techniques, the Chinese drugmaker said yesterday.

Amoytop will gain the exclusive right to develop and commercialize San Francisco-based Aligos’ nucleic acid techniques for the treatment of hepatis in China, the Xiamen, southeastern Fujian province-based company said.

In return Amoytop will pay up to USD7 million as a downpayment and contribution to the shared research, it said. It will also pay milestone fees to a maximum of USD109 million as the drug is developed and when it hits the market. And it will pay royalties on the sales as well.

The partnership will consolidate Amoytop’s positioning in the field of hepatitis B medicines and provide more options for clinical treatment, said Amoytop, whose main product is Peginterferon Alfa-2b, a treatment for viral hepatitis.

Aligos develops novel therapies for liver diseases including chronic hepatitis B and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, Amoytop said. The technique it uses is still in an early stage of research in China and no clinical trials using this technique are underway.

Amoytop’s net profit jumped 46.5 percent in the first quarter from the year before to CNY84.2 million (USD12.1 million) while revenue surged 21.5 percent to CNY419 million (USD60.4 million), according to its latest earnings report. Sales of Peginterferon Alfa-2b accounted for 76 percent of the company’s revenue last year.

Amoytop’s share price [SHA:688278] dipped 0.6 percent today to end the day at CNY43.20 (USD6.20). The stock has gained 11 percent in value since the beginning of the year.

Editor: Kim Taylor