April 25, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] JW Pharmaceutical said May 12 that it has secured exclusive marketing rights for a hemophilia treatment candidate from Japan’s Chugai Pharmaceutical in Korea.

Based on the agreement, Chugai will receive upfront, milestone payment and sales-tied royalties from the Korean firm. The companies didn’t provide further details about the deal. 

Emicizumab is a humanized bispecific antibody for hemophilia A, which under co-development by Chugai, Roche and Genentech, and the four global phase 3 clinical studies.

“Emicizumab is an antibody drug using Chugai’s proprietary antibody engineering technologies and is expected to meet social needs. We are collaborating with JW Pharmaceutical to deliver this innovative first-in-class therapeutic agent to patients who are waiting for the drug in Korea,” said Osamu Nagayama, chairman and chief executive officer.

Unlike the existing version of hemophilia therapies that require intravenous injection at least twice a week, the new drug can be administered by patients through subcutaneous injection once a week.

Korea’s hemophilia treatment market is estimated to be worth 90 billion won (US$79.80 million).

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)