Shanghai Allist Pharmaceuticals has bought itself a starring role in China’s KRAS market, paying Jacobio Pharma 150 million Chinese yuan ($21 million) for rights to a near-approval inhibitor of the oncogene and a potentially complementary molecule.
The deal covers the Chinese rights to the KRAS G12C inhibitor glecirasib and the SHP2 inhibitor JAB-3312. Jacobio filed for approval of glecirasib in non-small cell lung cancer in China in May, hot on the heels of a data drop that suggested the molecule’s efficacy is in the same ballpark as rival drugs. Jacobio identified safety and tolerability as an area it may have an edge over the competition.
Allist secured Chinese rights to glecirasib as part of a deal that included JAB-3312, the drug candidate that AbbVie walked away from last year. AbbVie picked up global rights to the molecule in 2020 but axed the asset as part of a portfolio review.
Jacobio bounced back by offloading the Chinese rights to JAB-3312 to Allist in a two-asset deal that could support combination therapy. Studies suggest inhibiting SHP2 could boost the effect of KRAS blockers by increasing the amount of the KRAS target and inhibiting reactivation of other RAS isoforms.
Pharma interest has cooled on SHP2, with Bristol Myers Squibb, Genentech and Sanofi all pulling back in recent years. Yet, Allist has seen value including JAB-3312 in its glecirasib deal. As well as the upfront fee, Allist will pay 50 million yuan ($7 million) in near-term R&D expenses and potentially up to 700 million yuan ($99 million) in milestones.
The deal establishes Allist as a front-runner in China’s emerging KRAS market. While Amgen’s Lumakras and Bristol Myers Squibb’s Krazati are competing for the U.S. market, Innovent Biologics is making the running in China. Innovent claimed a first when the Chinese regulator accepted its KRAS G12C inhibitor for priority review in November.