(Yicai Global) April 13 -- Chinese drugmaker Akeso has granted Singaporean biopharmaceutical firm Specialised Therapeutics the exclusive right to sell its new cancer drug in overseas markets, including Southeast Asia.

Specialised Therapeutics has been authorized to sell Akeso’s Penpulimab Injection, a PD-1 monoclonal antibody that treats non-small cell lung cancer and Hodgkin’s lymphoma, in Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the Independent State of Papua New Guinea for the sum of USD73 million, Akeso said yesterday.

Unit CTTQ-Akeso (Shanghai) Biomedical Technology will earn commissions equivalent to 15 percent of the sales of Penpulimab in these regions, and also retains the right to develop the drug worldwide, the Zhongshan, southern Guangdong province-based parent firm said.

CTTQ-Akeso, which was set up by Akeso and Chinese-Thai joint venture CTTQ Pharmaceutical Group, remains responsible for Penpulimab’s future development and commercialization, Akeso added. Penpulimab was greenlit by Chinese authorities in August 2021 and clinical trials of its use in other types of cancers are ongoing.

Akeso is the second Chinese pharmaceutical firm after Junshi Biosciences to recently announce a tie-up in Southeast Asia through the licensing of medicines to tap into the local market. Shanghai-based Junshi is teaming up with Singapore’s Rxilient Biotech to distribute its cancer drug Toripalimab in the region.

Since China joined the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use in 2017, the regulatory system for the country’s medicines has quickly become more internationalized, Li Ning, Junshi chief executive, told Yicai Global. China’s clinical trial data tends to be more recognized in Southeast Asian nations.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor