Sun Pharmaceutical Industries today announced that it had licensed two of its products — for psoriasis and for dry eye — to China Medical System Holdings Ltd or CMS.
CMS will pay Sun Pharma an initial upfront payment, regulatory and sales milestone payments, and royalties on net sales, the Indian pharma company said.
The financial details of the 15-year-deal, which covers Mainland China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region and Taiwan, were not disclosed.
The two drugs are Tildrakizumab, a biologic product for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, and Cyclosporine A 0.09% for dry eye disease.
CMS will be responsible for development, regulatory filings and commercialization of the products in China.
“This licensing agreement marks our entry into the Greater China market which is the second largest pharmaceutical market globally,” said Dilip Shanghvi, Managing Director, Sun Pharma.
“Sun Pharma is committed to growing its dermatology franchise, with Tildrakizumab as its lead product. We continue to build our pipeline and capabilities in this important therapeutic area of significant unmet need,” he added.
Tildrakizumab-asmn is a humanized lgG1/k monoclonal antibody designed to selectively bind to the p19 subunit of interleukin-23 (IL-23) and inhibit its interaction with the IL-23 receptor, leading to inhibition of the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines.
It was approved by USFDA in March 2018 and is being currently marketed in the US under the ILUMYATM brand name. It is indicated for the treatment of adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy.
Dry eye is a burdensome, chronic disease affecting millions of patients around the world, with a significant population, greater than 100 million1,2 patients, present in Greater China.
Dry eye disease occurs when the quantity and/or quality of tears fails to keep the surface of the eye properly lubricated. The disease causes a scratchy sensation or a feeling that something is in the eye.
Other symptoms include stinging or burning, episodes of excess tearing following periods of stress, discharge, pain, and redness in the eye. The risk of developing dry eye increases with advancing age, and is more common in women than in men.