(Yicai) Oct. 31 -- Shares of Hengrui Pharmaceuticals rose after the Chinese drugmaker said it has agreed to grant an exclusive license for its DNA damage response PARP1 inhibitor HRS-1167 to Germany’s Merck Group.

Hengrui [SHA: 600276] closed 2.9 percent higher at CNY47.94 (USD6.55) a share today, after jumping by as much as 4.6 percent in the morning trading session. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.1 percent.

Hengrui will receive a down payment of EUR160 million (USD169.6 million), technology transfer fees and royalties of as much as EUR90 million (USD95.4 million), and estimated research and development and sales milestone payments of up to EUR1.4 billion (USD1.5 billion), it said late yesterday. Merck will also pay sales commissions at a double-digit percentage, it added.

Merck will have an exclusive right to develop, produce, and commercialize HRS-1167 in markets outside of the Chinese mainland and an option to commercialize HRS-1167 and SHR-A1904 with Hengrui, the Chinese firm noted. It also has an exclusive option to develop, make, and commercialize Hengrui's pancreatic cancer drug SHR-A1904, it said.

Hengrui's overseas business has done well this year. The firm has given five licenses for innovative drugs with independent intellectual property rights, including anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody camrelizumab, breast cancer targeted drug pyrotinib, peripheral T-cell lymphoma targeted drug SHR2554, and the asthma treatment SHR-1905, to leading global partners to develop abroad.

Net profit at Hengrui climbed 9.5 percent to CNY3.5 billion (USD478.3 million) in the nine months ended Sept. 30 from a year earlier, the Jiangsu province-based company said in its latest earnings report. Revenue rose 6.7 percent to CNY17 billion (USD2.3 billion).

Editor: Martin Kadiev