AZ pays $200m upfront for Sino Bio COPD drug
In another big-ticket licensing deal with a Chinese biotech, AstraZeneca has claimed rights to a drug candidate for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) from Sino Bio for up to $2.1 billion.
The agreement – which breaks down to a $200 million upfront payment and $1.9 billion in potential milestones – grants AZ ex-China rights to TQC3721, an inhaled PDE3/4 inhibitor that could be a competitor to MSD's first-in-class Ohtuvayre (ensifentrine).
Ohtuvayre was approved for COPD by the FDA in 2024 and was the catalyst for MSD's $10 billion takeover of its developer, Verona Pharma, last October. It was the first inhaled product with a novel mechanism of action available for the maintenance treatment of COPD in more than 20 years.
MSD's drug did well in its first full year on the market, bringing in more than $500 million in the US, although it weakened in the first quarter of this year with a 26% decline to $131 million, which has been put down to deductible and reimbursement issues. Analysts have previously predicted $3 to $4 billion in peak sales potential.
In a statement, Sino Bio said that TQC3721 – developed by its Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical (CTTQ) subsidiary – is a "highly differentiated" inhaled PDE3/4 inhibitor that has "potential best-in-class characteristics across multiple respiratory indications."
"As a global leader in respiratory medicine, this partnership will leverage AstraZeneca's deep clinical development experience and respiratory expertise with the group's innovation capabilities, accelerating the global clinical development of TQC3721," said Sino Bio in a statement.
A nebulised formulation of the drug – the same delivery route as Ohtuvayre – has already completed a phase 2b COPD trial in China and moved into phase 3, while Sino Bio is also working on a more convenient dry powder inhaler (DPI) version that has reached midstage clinical development.
Verona also advanced a DPI Ohtuvayre into phase 2 trials, but that programme does not appear in MSD's R&D pipeline. Since the takeover, MSD – known as Merck & Co in the US and Canada – has been working on a fixed-dose, nebulised combination of the drug with long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) glycopyrrolate.
The deal is the latest in a series for AZ involving Chinese R&D programmes, led by a string of alliances with CSPC Pharma that spans multiple therapeutic categories and could be worth upwards of $20 billion.
GSK sells respiratory drug rights to CTTQ
There was also a licensing deal in the other direction this week, as CTTQ claimed rights in mainland China to GSK's triple therapy Trelegy Ellipta (fluticasone furoate, umeclidinium, and vilanterol) and dual therapy Anoro Ellipta (umeclidinium and vilanterol). Both drugs are used for maintenance treatment of COPD, while Trelegy's indications also include asthma.
The agreement comes a few weeks after CTTQ licensed rights to GSK's chronic hepatitis B (CHB) treatment bepirovirsen in China, where it is currently under regulatory review by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA).
