Dong-A ST announced on July 21 that Dong-A ST and its Japanese partner Meiji Seika Pharma signed a global license-out agreement with Intas Pharmaceuticals, a multinational pharmaceutical company, for DMB-3115, a a biosimilar of the inflammatory disease treatment Stelara.
Under the contract, Dong-A ST and Meiji Seika Pharma will have the right to the exclusive supply of finished products and transfer exclusive rights to Intel Pharmaceuticals on licensing and sales in global areas, excluding South Korea, Japan and some Asian countries.
After its successful commercialization, DMBio, a subsidiary of Dong-A Socio Holdings providing CDMO services, will produce the biosimilar drug.
Dong-A ST receives $10 million in down payment with no obligation to return, milestone payments of $95 million, and double-digit royalties on the sales revenue of the product from Intas Pharmaceuticals.
Intas Pharmaceuticals is in charge of licensing and sales in the United States and Europe through its U.K.-based subsidiary, Accord Healthcare.
Since 2013, Dong-A Socio Holdings and Meiji Seika Pharma had been jointly developed DMB-3115. In July last year, the right for development and commercialization was transferred to Dong-A ST to carry out the global development project efficiently. Dong-A ST and Meiji Seika Pharma are currently under joint development.
Dong-A ST launched Phase 3 trial in Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and the U.S. in the first quarter of this year and plans to carry out additional trials in nine European countries.
Meanwhile, Stelara is a biopharmaceutical product developed by Janssen, which controls the activation of inflammatory cells. It is a treatment for inflammatory diseases such as plate psoriasis and psoriasis arthritis, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis and a blockbuster product that recorded $7.77 billion in sales according to Jansen's 2020 management performance report.
