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Pfizer $PFE and China's Innovent Biologics announced a global licensing and collaboration agreement to develop 12 early-stage cancer drug programs, with a total potential value of up to $10.5 billion.
Financial terms call for Innovent to collect $650 million at signing, with the potential to earn an additional $9.85 billion tied to development, regulatory, and commercial milestones. Should any of the products reach the market, Innovent stands to collect royalties on net sales reaching into the double digits.
Across the twelve programs are antibody-drug conjugates carrying novel payloads and multi-specific antibodies, with eight of the candidates originating from Innovent's own research and the remaining four proposed by Pfizer. Once Phase 1 trials are complete — a stage Innovent will oversee — Pfizer steps in to drive development across the rest of the world.
The collaboration is divided into three distinct buckets of four programs each. In one bucket, Pfizer holds worldwide exclusive rights and funds all global development. A second bucket gives Pfizer exclusivity only outside Greater China, with the company picking up most costs. The third bucket is fully collaborative: both parties share development expenses, jointly bring products to market in the U.S. and Europe, divide any resulting profits, and Innovent keeps the rights within Greater China.
"By combining Innovent's discovery and early clinical development with Pfizer's global research and development and commercialization capabilities, we have an opportunity not only to strengthen our pipeline, but to accelerate the delivery of breakthroughs that can redefine standards of care and make a meaningful difference in patients' lives," Pfizer Chief Oncology Officer Jeff Legos said in a statement.
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter, subject to required regulatory approvals, the company said.
Trading in Hong Kong saw Innovent's shares jump as much as 10% on the news, CNBC reported.
The deal is part of a broader wave of Western pharmaceutical companies licensing drugs from Chinese biotechs. Data from Pharmcube, cited by Reuters, show that licensing activity in the greater China region has exploded — growing nearly tenfold since 2021 to hit a record $137.7 billion last year. Just weeks ago, Bristol-Myers Squibb announced its own tie-up with Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals, a deal Bloomberg put at a potential $15.2 billion.