Apollo Therapeutics Signs Exclusive Ex-China License From Sunshine Lake Pharma for Clinical-Stage FGF21 / GLP-1 Dual Receptor Agonist, a Therapeutic With Major Commercial Potential in Multiple Indications

Apollo Therapeutics Group Limited (“Apollo”), the portfolio biopharmaceutical company, and Sunshine Lake Pharma Co., Ltd. (“Sunshine Lake”), an innovative pharmaceutical company and a member of HEC Group, one of the top 500 private business entities in China, have entered into an exclusive license agreement for the development of APL-18881 (HEC88473). Under the terms of the agreement, Sunshine Lake will retain development, manufacturing and commercialization rights in China and has granted Apollo development, manufacturing and commercialization rights in the rest of the world for all current and future therapeutic indications. Sunshine Lake is to receive $12m upfront and up to $926m in development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments. The commercial milestone payments are contingent upon reaching defined annual sales thresholds across major markets. In addition, Sunshine Lake stands to receive tiered royalties ranging from high single to low double digits on net sales.

Apollo is building a large and diversified pipeline of novel drug candidates and APL-18881 (HEC88473) will be its fifth program in clinical development. As well as discovering and developing new drugs based on breakthroughs in basic science made at its partner universities, Apollo also in-licenses or acquires clinical-stage assets based on strict selection criteria including the exploitation of unique insights and synergies arising from its discovery, human genetics, and other preclinical activities. APL-18881 (HEC88473) has an open US Investigational New Drug Application (IND) and Apollo will be clinically developing the molecule in a range of potential indications in the cardiometabolic, liver, and related disease areas that are not currently disclosed.

Sunshine Lake has long been dedicated to innovative drug development in anti-infection, oncology, and chronic metabolic disease areas, establishing a robust pipeline with multiple programs in mid-to-late clinical stages. While mainly focusing on domestic development and commercialization within China for novel drugs, Sunshine Lake is also actively exploring opportunities to expand into international markets. The collaboration with Apollo on the APL-18881 (HEC88473) program marks Sunshine Lake’s first international partnership for novel biologics, further emphasizing Sunshine’s commitment to global expansion efforts.