A pair of hands with medical gloves holding a glass beaker with a blue liquid solution in it. There is various lab equipment in the background, such as an electron microscope and other lab glassware.

RTP firm inks potential $46 million deal for cancer treatment in Asia

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A Triangle drugmaker has inked a deal with a Chinese company for the development and commercialization of its cancer treatment in Asia.

Research Triangle Park-based G1 Therapeutics (Nasdaq: GTHX) disclosed a new deal with Shanghai-based Genor Biopharma for the exclusive development and commercializations of G1’s drug, lerociclib, in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan. It’s an oral treatment designed to “enable more effective combination treatment strategies” and will add to Genor’s portfolio of eight clinical oncology compounds it is currently developing.

According to the terms of the deal reported by G1 to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) the company will receive an upfront payment of $6 million in cash and is entitled to up to $40 million more based on development and commercialization milestones.

In addition to that funding, once commercialized, G1 will receive tiered royalties “ranging from high single to low double-digits” based on annual sales of the drug.

“This agreement is an important component of our corporate strategy to form partnerships that enable global access to our promising oncology therapies,” said Dr. Mark Velleca, G1’s CEO. “We are excited to collaborate with Genor, a leading innovator in oncology with the development and commercialization expertise to advance this therapy on behalf of patients in China and other Asia-Pacific countries.”

For its part, Genor executives said the deal will help bring an important treatment option to the Asia-Pacific region and fits well into its existing portfolio.

“We see significant unmet medical need in Asian patients with HR+, HER2- breast cancer in both adjuvant and metastatic settings, especially among intermediate and high-risk patients whose longer treatment duration requires therapeutics with better tolerability. Lerociclib is a potentially best-in-class CDK4/6 inhibitor, with robust efficacy and a differentiated safety profile when compared with marketed products,” said Dr. Guo Feng, Genor’s CEO in a statement. “With lerociclib as a strategic fit in our portfolio, we look forward to working with G1 to maximize the potential of this compound in the APAC region.”