Chi-Med agrees R&D partnership with Inmagene

China’s Chi-Med and Inmagene Biopharmaceuticals have agreed a strategic partnership to develop preclinical drug candidates for potential treatment of several immunological diseases.

Funded by Inmagene, the companies will work together to move drug candidates towards regulatory filings with the FDA.

Chi-Med, full name Hutchison China MediTech, has granted Inmagene exclusive options to four drug candidates only for treatment of immunological diseases.

If Inmagene decides to exercise the option, it will have the right to further develop, manufacture and market that specific drug candidate globally.

Chi-Med will retain first rights to co-market in mainland China and for each drug candidate will be entitled to development milestone payments of up to $95 million, plus commercial milestones of up to $135 million, plus double-digit sales royalties.

Inmagene has wholly-owned subsidiaries in Shanghai, San Diego and Hangzhou, and is focused on building its drugs pipeline.

It's lead candidate, IMG-020, is about to enter global clinical trials in several different indications that the company has not specified.

Chi-Med has been working on targeted therapies for immune diseases and cancer and has a portfolio of nine cancer drugs in clinical studies around the world.

Chi Med had been working with AstraZeneca on a late-stage oncology drug, savolitinib, for renal cell carcinoma.

However, the UK pharma opted to dump the MET inhibitor drug from its pipeline after the Chi-Med said that it looked unlikely to beat Pfizer’s Sutent in papillary renal cell carcinoma.

Chi-Med has also worked with Eli Lilly on another investigational cancer drug, fruquintinib.

Christian Hogg, chief executive officer of Chi-Med, said, “This partnership will enable Inmagene to investigate the immunological disease applications of these four drug candidates, discovered by our in-house discovery organisation.

“We believe that these four candidates have scope in multiple immunological diseases and we are pleased to see these opportunities investigated further by Inmagene.”