Business
Eisai and Henlius Enter into Exclusive Commercial License Agreement for Anti-PD-1 Antibody Serplulimab in Japan
Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, CEO: Haruo Naito, "Eisai") and Shanghai Henlius Biotech, Inc. (Headquarters: Shanghai, China, CEO: Jason Zhu, "Henlius") announced today the conclusion of an exclusive commercialization and co-exclusive development and manufacturing license agreement for the anti-PD-1 antibody serplulimab (generic name, marketed as HANSIZHUANG in China and Hetronifly® in the EU) in Japan.
About this update from Shanghai Henlius Biotech, Inc. Class H
[{"type":"text","content":"TOKYO and SHANGHAI, Feb. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, CEO: Haruo Naito, "Eisai") and Shanghai Henlius Biotech, Inc. (Headquarters: Shanghai, China, CEO: Jason Zhu, "Henlius") announced today the conclusion of an exclusive commercialization and co-exclusive development and manufacturing license agreement for the anti-PD-1 antibody serplulimab (generic name, marketed as HANSIZHUANG in China and Hetronifly® in the EU) in Japan.","length":521,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"Serplulimab, a novel anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody developed by Henlius, is reported to possess a unique binding mode that differs from existing anti-PD-1 antibodies.[1] In China, it has been approved for indications such as squamous non-small cell lung cancer (sqNSCLC), extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC), non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (nsNSCLC), and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). In the EU, it has been approved for ES-SCLC. It is the world's first anti-PD-1 antibody to be used as a first-line treatment for ES-SCLC.","length":566,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"In Japan, Henlius is currently conducting a Phase II bridging clinical trial for ES-SCLC, and plans to submit an application for fiscal year 2026 based on the results of this trial as well as the Phase III clinical trial data that supported approvals for this indication in China and Europe. Furthermore, a Phase III multi-national clinical trial for non-high-frequency microsatellite instability (non-MSI-High) metastatic colorectal cancer is underway, with development for new indications also planned.","length":534,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"In Japan, it is estimated that there are approximately 13,000 patients diagnosed with ES-SCLC and about 28,000 patients diagnosed with non-MSI-High metastatic colorectal cancer, both of which are considered to have high unmet medical needs.[2],[3],[4],[5]","length":255,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"Under the terms of this agreement, Eisai will obtain exclusive rights to commercialize serplulimab in Japan. In addition to ES-SCLC and non-MSI-High metastatic colorectal cancer, Henlius plans to also conduct a clinical trial for perioperative gastric cancer in Japan, a...