ImaginAb and [Yantai] DongCheng Pharmaceutical Group Sign Exclusive License Agreement to Commercialize CD8 ImmunoPET Agent in China to Serve Pharma and Healthcare Community
LOS ANGELES and YANTAI, China, May 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ImaginAb, Inc., a market leading global biotechnology company focused on developing next generation immuno-oncology imaging agents and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals (RPT), is pleased to announce the signing of an exclusive license with [Yantai] DongCheng Pharmaceutical Group to commercialize ImaginAb's CD8 ImmunoPET agent (zirconium Zr 89 crefmirlimab berdoxam) in the Greater China market. Zirconium Zr 89 crefmirlimab berdoxam will be initially used in third party sponsored clinical trials with the intention of achieving market authorization.
Ian Wilson, CEO of ImaginAb, said: "ImaginAb's objective is to be a leading global imaging and radiotherapy company and, as such, China is an important market for our products. We are pleased to sign this exclusive license agreement and are looking forward to working with DongCheng to deliver our diagnostic imaging agent to cancer patients in China. DongCheng's extensive experience in molecular imaging, combined with its technical experience and execution infrastructure make it an ideal development and commercial partner for ImaginAb in China. The addition of DongCheng to our customer portfolio provides additional support as we progress our business strategy and third-party validation of crefmirlimab berdoxam."
Grant Luo, CEO of [Yantai] DongCheng Pharmaceutical Group, commented: "By partnering with ImaginAb, we will be introducing to Greater China an ImmunoPET tracer to visualize cytotoxic CD8+ T cells in the tumor microenvironment, which has the potential to accurately select and monitor the appropriate population receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment and further promote the effectiveness of immunotherapy treatments. In addition, we hope to collaborate with clinical experts and pharmaceutical companies through our nationwide Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) nuclear pharmacies network, to help accelerate the clinical development and commercial launch of novel therapeutics with high clinical benefits and to address patients' needs."
ImaginAb will receive license and milestone payments and up to double digit royalties for the CD8 ImmunoPET license and commercial partnership in the Greater China market. No other terms have been disclosed.
About ImaginAb
ImaginAb Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on developing radiopharmaceutical imaging and therapy agents. ImaginAb engineer antibody fragments called Minibodies that maintain the exquisite specificity of full-length antibodies while remaining biologically inert in the body. Used with widely available PET Imaging technology and therapeutic isotopes, these novel Minibodies bind specifically to cell surface targets, providing physicians with a whole-body picture of immune activity and the potential to treat cancer.
ImaginAb is advancing a diagnostic and therapeutic pipeline of Minibodies against both oncology and immunology targets. The Company is backed by top tier venture capital firms and strategic corporate firms including, Adage Capital, The Cycad Group, Norgine Ventures, TRC, Jim Pallotta of the Raptor Group, The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, and Merck (MSD) Pharma. For more information, please visit www.imaginab.com
About CD8 ImmunoPET
The Zr 89 CD8 ImmunoPET agent (zirconium Zr 89 crefmirlimab berdoxam) is a Zr 89 -labelled Minibody that binds the CD8 receptor on human T cells and is used for quantitative, non-invasive PET imaging of CD8 T cells in patients. CD8 T cells are the main effector cells involved in the immune response against tumor cells induced by immunotherapies and they also play a key role in multiple autoimmune diseases. As such, quantitative imaging of CD8 T cells can be used to diagnose the immune status of a patient, to measure the efficacy of immunotherapies and predict patient outcomes.
About [Yantai] DongCheng Pharmaceutical Group
Founded in 1998 and listed on Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2012, [Yantai] DongCheng Pharmaceutical Group specializes in the production, supply, and commercialization of radioactive tracers through the company's nation-wide PET and SPECT imaging radio-pharmacies. Sales network accounts for about 50% market share of PET tracers in China with penetration into 800+ hospitals / nuclear medicine departments.
DongCheng is committed to the nuclear medicine industry, with a wide range of radiopharmaceutical products in its portfolio, strong R&D capabilities with a robust pipeline, and radiopharmaceutical local supply and commercialization with multinational companies and leading institutions such as GE Healthcare, Nihon Medi-Physics (NMP), DCB, and Beijing Cancer Hospital. For more information, please visit www.dcb-group.com
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