Friday, August 07, 2020
ImmVira Group Company and Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Holding Co., Ltd announced a clinical collaboration and exclusive license agreement for ImmVira's MVR-T3011 intratumoral oncolytic virus program for the commercialization of novel immunotherapies to treat solid malignant tumors.
ImmVira's MVR-T3011 oncolytic virus program has innovated with a genetically engineered oncolytic herpes simplex virus-1 (oHSV-1) to enhance the known oncolytic effects of oHSV-1. Through gene recombinant technologies, PD-1 antibody and interleukin-12 immune modulators are expressed within the virus. Oncolysis is achieved with additional immune response stimulation while keeping the boosted immune activity limited to the locality of MVR-T3011 to achieve a potentially favorable safety profile. The MVR-T3011 intratumoral program aims to target most solid malignant tumors with both remission rate improvement and safety improvement over immune modulator monotherapies. As part of the agreement, Shanghai Pharma will receive an exclusive license and gain access to ImmVira's MVR-T3011 virus for clinical development, manufacturing and commercialization within certain fields of use in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan (the Greater China region). ImmVira and Shanghai Pharma will collaborate on clinical trials in China with exclusive commercial rights for intratumoral therapies developed under the agreement assigned to Shanghai Pharma for the Greater China region. ImmVira retains full development and commercialization rights for regions outside of Greater China.
Under the terms of the agreement, ImmVira will receive from Shanghai Pharma an upfront payment and contingent milestone payments that would in the aggregate amount to RMB1.15 billion, as well as royalty payments of up to 12% of net revenues should Shanghai Pharma successfully commercialize a therapy from the collaboration.
"As we continue to lead in oncolytic virus research and development, we are delighted to collaborate with Shanghai Pharma on our first product pipeline," said Grace Zhou, chairman and chief executive officer of ImmVira. "This partnership represents an exceptional opportunity to leverage Shanghai Pharma's leadership in immunotherapy research, clinical stage expertise, manufacture and countrywide distribution network. With a strong partner like Shanghai Pharma, we are more confident in the commercial success of MVR-T3011 and achieve our goal in engineering more effective yet safer remedies for cancer patients."
"ImmVira is a leader in providing best-in-class oncolytic virotherapy treatments for patients in need. We are pleased to collaborate with ImmVira and have MVR-T3011 intratumoral program join our market leading commercial pipeline. The MVR-T3011 design is a breakthrough novel approach to cancer treatment over monotherapies," said Zuo Min, Executive Director and President of Shanghai Pharma. "In-line with our dedication to providing innovative, safe and effective drugs against serious and chronic diseases, MVR-T3011 represents a sound scientific approach to cancer treatment. We are confident in its eventual commercial success not only as a first-in-class product but also a best-in-class product."
