Almirall closes a license with Chinese Simcere for more than 500 million

The Catalan pharmaceutical company Almirall has closed an agreement with the Chinese group Simcere Pharmaceutical to obtain the exclusive marketing license for a drug intended for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. The agreement entails Almirall disbursing up to 510 million euros (492 million dollars) and gives it the right to distribute the new drug worldwide, with the exception of China, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan.

The listed company Almirall informed the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), the Spanish stock market supervisor, of the operation and indicated that Simcere will receive an initial payment of 15.5 million euros for the development of the new protein, based on the achievements made, with a significant portion for sales milestones, as well as royalties based on future global sales.

Simcere's research has detected the protein SIM0278, which is an interleukin 2 mutein in the form of a fusion protein (IL-2Mu-Fc) that activates regulatory T cells (Treg) and which, as a subcutaneous injection, can be developed to potentially treat various autoimmune diseases.

For the Chinese group, this is an opportunity to internationalize and collaborate with a partner committed to innovation and who will contribute "to demonstrating the clinical value of the developed protein," said Renhong Tang, CEO of the Asian firm.

For its part, Almirall values the positioning that this drug can provide to strengthen brand leadership in medical dermatology and the range of biological products, according to Karl Ziegelbauer, scientific director of Almirall.

The dermatological business is one of the major commitments of the Catalan pharmaceutical group and in which it is obtaining favorable results, especially throughout this year, when dermatological sales have reached 48% of the total business. In the first half of 2022, the dermatological area in Europe grew by 22%. In the January-June period, the group invoiced 27.3 million euros.