AbbVie to develop Lupin’s cancer drug

Lupin Ltd. on Monday announced a partnership with global pharmaceutical giant AbbVie for the development and commercialisation of its novel oncology drug to treat hematological cancers.

AbbVie has entered into a licensing agreement with Lupin for its MALT1 (Mucosa-Associated Lymphoid Tissue Lymphoma Translocation Protein 1) inhibitor programme and taken the responsibility for further development and launch of the drug in the market.

Through this partnership, AbbVie has gained exclusive global rights to develop and commercialise Lupin’s MALT1 inhibitors.

Under the terms of the agreement, AbbVie would give Lupin an upfront payment of $30 million for an exclusive licence to the programme.

Upon successful completion of regulatory, development and commercial milestones, Lupin is eligible to receive total milestone payments of up to $947 million.

Double-digit royalty

Additionally, Lupin will be entitled to receive a double-digit royalty on sales of the product and retain commercial rights to the programme in India. Nilesh Gupta, managing director, Lupin Ltd., said, “This is an unprecedented deal and reflects the level of science that has gone into it. Delivering on new drugs was a key element of Dr. Deshbandhu Gupta’s [Lupin’s founder] vision. We are extremely proud of being able to realise his vision to bring new treatments to patients in need.”

Dr. Raj Kamboj, president of Lupin’s Novel Drug Discovery and Development (NDDD) stated, “We are delighted with the success of our NDDD programme to bring India’s first pharmaceutical innovation in this space.”

“This is a first-in-class drug discovery programme delivered by Lupin right from concept generation through the various stages of drug discovery and development. We are proud of the conceptualisation, strategic direction and impeccable execution done by the team at Lupin that meets the global standard of pharmaceutical research,” he said.

Tom Hudson, MD, vice-president, discovery, AbbVie said, “Lupin’s MALT1 programme is exploring a new and innovative approach in difficult-to-treat cancers.”

“AbbVie is committed to pursuing advanced treatment options for patients and we look forward to partnering our expertise in hematological oncology with Lupin’s discovery programme to offer new hope to patients,” he said.

Lupin’s NDDD team is focused on building a pipeline of highly differentiated and innovative new chemical entities in the therapeutic areas of oncology, immunology and metabolic disorders. Two more compounds are scheduled for clinical trials shortly.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/abbvie-to-develop-lupins-cancer-drug/article25821425.ece