NEW YORK – Sermonix Pharmaceuticals has exclusively licensed to Shanghai Henlius Biotech the rights to its investigational endocrine therapy lasofoxifene in China.
Under the terms of the agreement announced Wednesday, Henlius will pay Sermonix an undisclosed sum upfront for the exclusive rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize lasofoxifene in at least two estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer indications in China. Sermonix will retain global rights to the drug in all other territories.
Sermonix is eligible to receive up to $58 million in milestone payments as well as royalty payments should Henlius successfully commercialize lasofoxifene in China. Henlius will fund the clinical development of lasofoxifene in the territory, including enrolling patients in China in the Phase III ELAINE-3 clinical trial, comparing lasofoxifene plus Eli Lilly's CDK 4/6 inhibitor Verzenio (abemaciclib) against fulvestrant and Verzenio in patients with previously treated, advanced, ER-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer whose cancers harbor at least one ESR1 point mutation. Researchers are assessing patients' circulating tumor DNA or resected cancer tissue for biomarkers.
The trial began enrolling patients in the US in December 2023.