North East pharmaceutical firm Shield Therapeutics has sealed a licence deal worth up to £6 million that will see its lead product launch in South Korea.
The Gateshead Design Centre based company's main drug treats iron deficiency anaemia and is available in the 海角视频 and Europe where it is known as Ferracru, and in the US as Accrufer.
Now the pharmaceutical firm has announced that it has entered into an exclusive licence agreement for Accrufer with Korea Pharma Co Ltd, resulting in an upfront licence payment to Shield of £500,000.
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Shield is also eligible to receive a further £1.5m upon the first commercial sale of Accrufer in Korea, and it will also receive up to £4m in milestone payments dependent on specific cumulative sales targets.
Greg Madison, chief executive of Shield, said: “I am delighted to be entering into this agreement with Korea Pharma, who have been determined to succeed throughout a competitive licensing process for Accrufer in Korea.
“They are a successful pharmaceutical company with an excellent track record of product development and commercial success.
“This is a first step in broadening our geographical reach outside the US, Europe, and China.
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“Iron deficiency is a prevalent issue globally, and this agreement will make our novel oral iron, Accrufer, available, pending approval, to more patients with iron deficiency in Korea. We very much look forward to working with Korea Pharma and supporting them as they advance forward.”
Alongside the financial terms of the licence, Korea Pharma will undertake and pay for all activities to achieve marketing authorisation and then commercialise Accrufer in Korea.
For the duration of the intellectual property-governed period in Korea, Shield – which first listed on the AIM exchange in 2016 – will also receive double-digit royalties of 15 per cent of net sales of Accrufer.
Korea Pharma will be responsible for all clinical and regulatory costs and activities as well as all manufacturing and distribution costs of goods sold in Korea.
Eunhee Park, president of Korea Pharma, said: “I am delighted that we can sign this agreement with Shield Therapeutics. I'm looking forward to providing Accrufer to the people of Korea as a first choice of treatment for patients with iron deficiency.”
News of the agreement comes a month after Accrufer finally went on sale in the US, four years after it first explored making the drug available in the States.
Its initial efforts were hampered during the FDA approval process but Accrufer was made available in all parts of the US from July 1 in moves which will also create jobs as it grows its US-based sales team from 30 to around 90 by 2023.
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