Business
Simcere and Connect Enter into an exclusive license and collaboration agreement for the innovative autoimmune drug Rademikibart
NANJING, China, Nov. 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On November 21, 2023, Simcere Pharmaceutical Group Limited ("Simcere") entered into an exclusive license and
About this update from Connect Biopharma Holdings Limited
[{"type":"text","content":"NANJING, China, Nov. 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On November 21, 2023, Simcere Pharmaceutical Group Limited (\"Simcere\") entered into an exclusive license and collaboration agreement (the \"Agreement\") with Connect Biopharma HongKong Limited (\"Connect\") in relation to Rademikibart, an innovative IL-4Rα monoclonal antibody.\n\nPursuant to the Agreement, Simcere obtains the exclusive rights in the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of Rademikibart for all indications in Greater China. Connect will retain its rights outside Greater China and will complete the ongoing pivotal clinical trial for atopic dermatitis (AD) treatment and other ongoing clinical trials. Simcere will independently conduct future clinical trials in Greater China.\nAccording to Simcere's announcement, this collaboration will further enhance its product portfolio in the autoimmune field and strengthen the synergistic effect in its commercialization efforts.\nRademikibart (CBP-201) is a fully humanized monoclonal antibody and targets IL-4Rα, a common subunit of IL-4 receptor and IL-13 receptor, which is also the active target of the breakthrough therapy, Dupixent, which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). By binding with IL-4Rα, Rademikibart can block the functions of IL-4 and IL-13 effectively, thereby blocking the Th2 inflammatory pathway and treating Th2 related inflammatory diseases, such as AD and asthma.\nAD and asthma are both common chronic inflammatory diseases. According to Frost & Sullivan, the number of people living with AD has reached 649 million worldwide in 2019 and is expected to further increase to 755 million in 2030. Asthma had a global patient population of 746 million cases in 2019, and that number is expected to rise to 858 million in 2030.\nDuplizumab (Dupixent) is the only IL-4Ra-targeting drug that was approved for marketing. It was jointly developed by Sanofi and Regeneron, and has been showing phenomenal market growth since its launch. According to Sanofi's half-year financial results announcement, Dupixent's global sales reached 4.878 billion euros (about 5.366 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2023, and its full-year sales are expected to exceed 10 billion euros.\nThe market for IL-4Rα-targeting drugs is in the range of tens of billions of dollars. As one of the domestic forerunners, ...