The wave of research and development of GLP-1 drugs continues to heat up as market demand increases and the development of new drugs advances
Hengrui Pharmaceutical and Hercules of the United States reached a licensing agreement for exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize the GLP-1 product portfolio globally outside of Greater China.
The GLP-1 product portfolio includes three innovative drugs:
(1) HRS-7535, small molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist;
(2) HRS9531, peptide GLP-1/GIP dual agonist injection and oral products;
(3) HRS-4729, a next-generation enterostimulant insulin product.
Hengrui Pharmaceutical will receive:
(1) $110 million down payment and recent milestone payments;
(2) 19.9% equity in Hercules, Inc., USA;
(3) Clinical development and regulatory milestone payments of up to US$200 million;
(4) A cumulative sales milestone of no more than US$5.725 billion;
(5) Sales commission from the lowest single digit to the lowest two-digit ratio of net sales.
Hercules of the United States was founded in May 2024. The Bain Capital Life Science Foundation and AtlasVentures, RTW Capital, and Lyra Capital jointly invested 400 million US dollars. The company's business scope and main business is biomedical development.
The investor will be responsible for the preparation and operation of Hercules in the United States. Hengrui will establish a joint management committee with Hercules of the United States. Each of the two parties will appoint 3 representatives to coordinate the development and commercialization of the licensed products on a global scale.
The wave of research and development of GLP-1 drugs continues to heat up as market demand increases and the development of new drugs continues to heat up, showing a trend of multiple targets, oral administration, and long-term effects, and domestic and foreign companies are actively deploying.
In terms of GLP-1 dual-target drugs, domestic Cinda Biotech (IBI362), Hengrui Pharmaceuticals (HRS9531), Hanson Pharmaceuticals (HS-20094), Borui Pharmaceuticals (BGM0504), and Zhongsheng Pharmaceutical (RAY1225) are leading the way in domestic research and development progress.
GLP-1 dual-target drug-related Hong Kong stocks:
Cinda Biotech (01801), Hanson Pharmaceuticals (03692)