Leading Chinese biopharmaceutical company, Innovent Biologics, Inc. has expanded its cooperation with American firm Lilly to develop cancer drugs.
Part of the cooperation is a new milestone agreement, allowing Innovent, based in Suzhou in east China's Jiangsu province, to receive up to 1 U.S. billion if products reach certain development, regulatory and sales milestones, both inside and outside of China, according to a statement by the company on Monday.
The agreement will further expand their drug development collaboration, already one of the largest in China between a multi-national and domestic biopharmaceutical company, the statement said.
The companies will collaborate to support the development and potential commercialization of three anti-PD-1 based bispecific antibodies for cancer treatments over the next decade, it said.
Innovent will now have the rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize these potential cancer treatments for China. Lilly will be responsible for these efforts outside of China.
"We are pleased to be expanding our collaboration with Innovent to further the development of potential therapies for those fighting cancer in China and around the world," said Greg Plowman, vice president of Lilly, on the company website.
Based in Indianapolis, Lilly is an American healthcare company.
