(Yicai) Feb. 11 -- Bio-Thera Solutions has granted Intas Pharmaceuticals exclusive US rights to a proposed golimumab biosimilar, while Henlius Biotech gave Dr. Reddy's Laboratories the exclusive US and 42 European countries rights to a biosimilar of daratumumab, marking two deals for such drugs between Chinese and Indian firms penned within a week.

Bio-Thera has inked an agreement for the BAT2506 injection with Intas Pharma, the Guangzhou-based company announced yesterday. The deal can bring up to USD165 million from upfront payments, milestone payments, and net sales royalties, it added.

BAT2506 is developed following biosimilar guidelines from China's National Medical Products Administration, the US Food and Drug Administration, and the European Medicines Agency. It has completed global Phase III clinical trials, while the EMA has accepted its sales application.

On Feb. 6, Shanghai-based Henlius Biotech said its unit had penned a deal for the exclusive commercialization rights for subcutaneous and intravenous formulations to HLX15, a recombinant anti-CD38 fully human monoclonal antibody injection, with Dr. Reddy's.

Chinese innovative drugs have gained a foothold in global innovation exports in recent years, leveraging engineering talent, abundant clinical trial resources, cost-effective development capabilities, and other advantages, industry insiders noted.

According to a new report from UK's Evaluate Pharma, Chinese companies are involved in at least one-fifth of all clinical pipeline projects in the innovative drugs sector. In antibody-drug conjugate, bispecific antibodies, chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, and other fields, participation by innovative Chinese drug makers exceeds 50 percent, with this year likely to remain a banner year for them in global licensing deals.

Editor: Martin Kadiev