Innovent Biologics, Inc. (Innovent) announced that it has entered into a licensing agreement with Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) for the development and potential commercialization of oxyntomodulin analog, OXM3, in China. OXM3 is a dual GLP-1 and glucagon receptor agonist that will enter China as a potential best-in-class, mid-stage clinical development diabetes compound. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
“Innovent is committed to develop and commercialize high quality biopharmaceuticals that are affordable to ordinary people. This license agreement marks an important step for Innovent as it strengthens our portfolio by adding a potential best-in-class clinical stage metabolic disease asset, and it broadens the therapeutic areas we cover to include diabetes,” said Michael Yu, Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Innovent. “Diabetes is recognized as the world’s fastest growing chronic condition. China has a greater number of diabetic patients than any other country in the world with around 114 million people suffering from the disease. We are excited to license this molecule from Lilly, and we look forward to developing OXM3 as a potential innovative treatment that could address a significant unmet medical need in China.”