Bone Therapeutics, Link Health and Pregene to develop and commercialize the ALLOB allogeneic bone cell therapy platform in China and Southeast Asia
Gosselies, Belgium, 5 October 2020, 7am CEST – BONE THERAPEUTICS (Euronext Brussels and Paris: BOTHE), the cell therapy company addressing unmet medical needs in orthopedics and other diseases, Link Health Pharma Co., Ltd (“Link Health”) and Shenzhen Pregene Biopharma Company, Ltd (“Pregene”) today announce the signing of an exclusive license agreement for the manufacturing, clinical development and commercialization of Bone Therapeutics’ allogeneic, off-the-shelf, bone cell therapy platform ALLOB in China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand.
Under the agreement, Bone Therapeutics is eligible to receive up to €55 million in development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments including €10 million in upfront and milestone payments anticipated in the next 24 months. Bone Therapeutics is also entitled to receive tiered double-digit royalties on annual net sales of ALLOB. Bone Therapeutics retains development and commercialization rights to ALLOB in all other geographies outside of those covered by this agreement. As a result, Bone Therapeutics will continue to concentrate on its development and commercialization plans for ALLOB in the US and Europe and novel innovative cell-based products globally.
“This collaboration between Bone Therapeutics, Link Health and Pregene expands our geographic reach and demonstrates the global commercial potential of ALLOB,” said Miguel Forte, MD, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Bone Therapeutics. “We already have operational experience in Asia with the Phase III clinical trial of our lead product JTA-004 in Hong Kong. We selected Link Health and Pregene to partner with us in Asia as a result of their expertise in advanced therapeutics and cell therapies, their proven track record of development and commercial implementation in Chinese and Asian markets, and Pregene’s well established cell therapy manufacturing capacity. Bone Therapeutics will continue to develop the ALLOB cell therapy platform for other markets while exploring additional partnership opportunities in the U.S. and Europe.”
The agreement grants Link Health and Pregene exclusive rights to clinically develop and commercialize ALLOB for the treatment of human bone disorders in Greater China, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand. All rights for China will be transferred to Pregene and Link Health will gain rights for the remaining countries Bone Therapeutics will share its patented proprietary manufacturing expertise for the expansion and differentiation of bone-forming cells and has the option to sell clinical supplies to Link Health and Pregene in preparation for their clinical development of ALLOB.
“This collaboration and license agreement for Bone Therapeutics’ ALLOB provides a strong addition to our pipeline. ALLOB has demonstrated the potential to reduce the recovery time and stimulate bone growth for a variety of bone conditions, and to have a considerable impact on patients’ lives,” said Yan Song, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Link Health. “It is important for Link Health to collaborate with companies that have strong therapeutic product portfolios and entrepreneurial management. This partnership with Bone Therapeutics is a direct result of our shared commitment to appreciate the enormous potential of cell therapy and regenerative medicine.”
“Pregene now has a flourishing portfolio of CAR-T cell therapy-based cancer treatments. Bone Therapeutics’ ALLOB provides an allogeneic, off-the-shelf cell therapy that expands our portfolio of cell therapies to include the sizable commercial potential of orthopedics,” said Hongjian Li, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Pregene. “We expect to be able to leverage our extensive international cell and gene therapy experience to develop Bone Therapeutics’ ALLOB platform and subsequently launch products in China and Southeast Asian markets.”
ALLOB, an allogeneic and off-the-shelf cell therapy product manufactured through a proprietary, scalable production process, consists of human bone-forming cells derived from cultured bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells of healthy adult donors. In preclinical studies ALLOB has shown to reduce healing time in a delayed-union fracture model by half, and has demonstrated good tolerability and signs of efficacy in two Phase IIa studies for two separate indications. The Company’s randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind Phase IIb clinical trial in patients with difficult tibial fractures has received approval from regulatory authorities in six of the seven planned European countries to date, and is expected to enroll the first patient later this year.
About Link Health Pharma Co., Ltd
Link Health is a leading Chinese pharmaceutical company based in Guangzhou, Southern China, focusing on the development of innovative drugs for unmet medical needs.
Link Health has created a highly professional team with diverse expertise in drug development, medical affairs and regulatory affairs. Leveraging deep understanding of China market, regulatory environment and strong network with global biopharmaceutical companies, Link Health is well positioned to bring innovative drugs to the market efficiently. The company has a drug development pipeline of 5 clinical stage assets and 1 under NDA reviewing in China.
The company has also established a fully owned subsidiary in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The Dutch office builds and further strengthen collaborations with global pharma/biotech partners and research institutes.
About Pregene Biopharma Co., Ltd
Shenzhen Pregene Biopharma Co. Ltd is a leading enterprise in the cell and gene therapy field with the core technology for industrialization. The company’s core team comes from well-known institutions and companies including the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, the University of Toronto, and the US FDA.
Pregene has established the gene editing platform, viral vector and cell production platform, nanobody selection platform and other small to pilot trial manufacturing system, with total investment over 100 million CNY. It has the laboratories and GMP plants for cell and gene therapy of over 10,000 square meter.
The company focuses on the research and development of cell and gene therapy drugs, and participated in the drafting the national standard “Considerations for CAR-T Cell Quality Study and Non-clinical Evaluation ” issued by the National Institutes for Food and Drug Control in June 2018. The CAR-T cell therapy for the treatment of multiple myeloma have obtained NMPA IND clearance as the Class I new drug, which is the first in China and fastest in the world using the humanized single domain antibody in CAR construct, and phase I clinical trials are now in progress. Other pipelines such as CAR-T, TCR-T and mRNA drugs for tumors, autoimmune diseases and other indications are in the development at different stages. The company has broad development prospects with the abundant backup technologies.
Looking forward to the future, the company will build the core capacity in one-stop solution for cell and gene therapy drugs, and fulfill the Express of innovative medicine development from drug discovery to clinical products.
About Bone Therapeutics
Bone Therapeutics is a leading biotech company focused on the development of innovative products to address high unmet needs in orthopedics and other diseases. The Company has a, diversified portfolio of cell and biologic therapies at different stages ranging from pre-clinical programs in immunomodulation to mid-to-late stage clinical development for orthopedic conditions, targeting markets with large unmet medical needs and limited innovation.
Bone Therapeutics is developing an off-the-shelf next-generation improved viscosupplement, JTA-004, which is currently in phase III development for the treatment of pain in knee osteoarthritis. Consisting of a unique combination of plasma proteins, hyaluronic acid – a natural component of knee synovial fluid, and a fast-acting analgesic, JTA-004 intends to provide added lubrication and protection to the cartilage of the arthritic joint and to alleviate osteoarthritic pain and inflammation. Positive phase IIb efficacy results in patients with knee osteoarthritis showed a statistically significant improvement in pain relief compared to a leading viscosupplement.
Bone Therapeutics’ core technology is based on its cutting-edge allogeneic cell therapy platform with differentiated bone marrow sourced Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSCs) which can be stored at the point of use in the hospital. Currently in pre-clinical development, BT-20, the most recent product candidate from this technology, targets inflammatory conditions, while the leading investigational medicinal product, ALLOB, represents a unique, proprietary approach to bone regeneration, which turns undifferentiated stromal cells from healthy donors into bone-forming cells. These cells are produced via the Bone Therapeutics’ scalable manufacturing process. Following the CTA approval by regulatory authorities in Europe, the Company is ready to start the phase IIb clinical trial with ALLOB in patients with difficult tibial fractures, using its optimized production process. ALLOB continues to be evaluated for other orthopedic indications including spinal fusion, osteotomy, maxillofacial and dental.
Bone Therapeutics’ cell therapy products are manufactured to the highest GMP standards and are protected by a broad IP (Intellectual Property) portfolio covering ten patent families as well as knowhow. The Company is based in the BioPark in Gosselies, Belgium. Further information is available at www.bonetherapeutics.com.
For further information, please contact:
Bone Therapeutics SA
Miguel Forte, MD, PhD, Chief Executive Officer
Jean-Luc Vandebroek, Chief Financial Officer
Tel: +32 (0)71 12 10 00
investorrelations@bonetherapeutics.com
For Belgian Media and Investor Enquiries:
Bepublic
Catherine Haquenne
Tel: +32 (0)497 75 63 56
catherine@bepublic.be
International Media Enquiries:
Image Box Communications
Neil Hunter / Michelle Boxall
Tel: +44 (0)20 8943 4685
neil.hunter@ibcomms.agency / michelle@ibcomms.agency
For French Media and Investor Enquiries:
NewCap Investor Relations & Financial Communications
Pierre Laurent, Louis-Victor Delouvrier and Arthur Rouillé
Tel: +33 (0)1 44 71 94 94
bone@newcap.eu
For US Media and Investor Enquiries:
LHA Investor Relations
Yvonne Briggs
Tel: +1 310 691 7100
ybriggs@lhai.com
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