Pfizer and CStone Pharmaceuticals Collaborate on Antibody for the Greater China Market

Pfizer and CStone Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in China, announced on Sept. 30, 2020 that they are entering into a strategic collaboration for the development and commercialization of CStone’s sugemalimab, a programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) antibody for high-incidence cancer indications, in mainland China.

Under the terms of the agreement, Pfizer will invest $200 million into the collaboration and will gain exclusive commercialization rights to sugemalimab in mainland China, a CStone press release said. CStone will obtain up to $280 million in milestone payments for sugemalimab and additional tiered royalties while continuing to lead clinical development and regulatory strategy for five indications.

Additionally, the agreement will allow for the companies to develop and commercialize further oncology assets for the Greater China market, the press release said.

“Pfizer’s investment in CStone is a statement of its confidence in the potential of our anti-PD-L1 treatment and recognition of our research and development capabilities,” said Frank Jiang, MD, PhD, chairman and CEO of CStone, in the press release. “By joining forces with Pfizer and leveraging its commercialization infrastructure, we will ensure that patients across a vastly expanded number of markets in China have quicker access to our highly differentiated PD-L1 treatment. In addition, we have advanced our transformation into a full-fledged biopharmaceutical company by forging a collaboration that will enable us to accelerate development and commercialization of globally innovative therapies for Chinese patients.”

“Our company has an extensive and proud history of bringing innovative medicines to patients in China,” said Pierre Gaudreault, acting president of Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals Group China, in the press release. “This collaboration with CStone builds on that history by helping to develop a potential best-in-class PD-L1 treatment that we can commercialize upon approval. It also fosters our collaboration with a partner that has exceptional clinical development capabilities that can help us meet the clear need for novel oncology treatments in China.”

Source: CStone​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​