Bone Therapeutics, Link Health and Pregene to develop and commercialize the ALLOB allogeneic bone cell therapy platform in China and Southeast Asia
BONE THERAPEUTICS, 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”) 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.