The Life Sciences team advised Palleon Pharmaceuticals on its strategic collaboration agreement with Shanghai Henlius Biotech, Inc. (2696.HK) to develop and commercialize two bifunctional sialidase programs from Palleon’s EAGLE (Enzyme-Antibody Glyco-Ligand Editing) immuno-oncology platform. The platform includes Palleon’s Bifunctional HER2-Sialidase now in preclinical development and a second bifunctional sialidase to be developed with a proprietary target provided by Henlius.
Palleon is a leading biotechnology company developing drugs that harness glyco-immunology to treat cancer and inflammatory disease. The company’s EAGLE platform potentiates antitumor immunity by enzymatically removing immunosuppressive sialic acids from tumor and immune cell surfaces.
Under the terms of the agreement, Palleon will perform research and the parties will then share preclinical and global clinical development responsibilities and costs for the Bifunctional HER2-Sialidase and a second bifunctional sialidase. Henlius has an exclusive license to the two investigational therapies in China (including Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan), while Palleon retains all other global rights and, for the second product, receives a royalty-bearing exclusive license to Henlius’ antibody technology outside China. Palleon received an upfront payment and is further eligible to receive up to $196.5 million in certain predetermined R&D and commercial milestones, in addition to royalties upon Henlius commercialization in China.
The Goodwin team was led by Can Cui and included Kingsley Taft, with support from Xiaowei Wu.
For more details, read the press release and articles in Endpoints, Pharmaceutical Business Review, and China Bio Today.