[Press Release] On August 16, HK inno.N announced that technology of OXTIMA, an autoimmune disease antibody drug candidate jointly developed by IMBiologics and Y-Biologics, has been transferred to Hangzhou Zhongmei Huadong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. This is the second milestone for the company, following a deal with Navigator Medicines in the U.S. in June. 

The technology transfer agreement, led by IMBiologics, is valued at USD 315.5 million (approximately KRW 430 billion), including an upfront payment of USD 8 million (6 million after sign plus 2 million after tech transfer, KRW 10.9 billion).

The agreement covers the Asia region, excluding South Korea, North Korea and Japan. Under the terms of the agreement, HK inno.N will receive a percentage of the total contract value, in addition to royalties on post-launch sales.

The global technology transfer agreement, similar to the one signed in June between IMBiologics and U.S.-based Navigator Medicines, will transfer both monoclonal and bispecific antibody drug candidates. At that time, the agreement with the U.S. company was global (including Japan), excluding Asia.

Combined with the previous global agreement, the total contract value is approximately USD 1.26 billion (approximately KRW 1.7 trillion). 

The recipient of the technology transfer is Hangzhou Zhongmei Huadong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Huadong Medicine Co. Ltd. and one of China’s top 10 pharmaceutical companies in terms of annual sales. It mainly develops antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), antibodies for immune diseases, and biosimilars.

OXTIMA under this technology transfer is a monoclonal and bispecific antibody drug candidate. It has two types of antibodies—a monoclonal antibody targeting the autoimmune disease antibody 'OX40L' and a bispecific antibody targeting both 'OX40L' and 'TNF-α' (tumor necrosis factor alpha). The monoclonal antibody was developed by HK inno.N at the time, and the bispecific antibody was co-developed by HK inno.N and Y-Biologics.

In 2020, HK inno.N transferred the project to IMBiologics, a company founded by their antibody research team, which has developed it into its main pipeline (dual antibody 'IMB-101' and monoclonal antibody 'IMB-102'). IMBiologics transferred the technology to a U.S. drug development company in June while studying IMB-101 with the U.S. FDA’s approval for a phase I clinical trial. The company then transferred the technology to a Chinese company within two months.

An official from HK inno.N said "We will continue to build competitive pipelines with our own research and development as well as vigorous open innovation and show results such as out-licensing and commercialization."