(Reuters) – China-based biotechnology company BeiGene Ltd said on Monday it will partner with Swiss firm Novartis AG to develop, manufacture and commercialize its cancer drug tislelizumab.
Under terms of the deal, BeiGene will earn $650 million in an upfront cash payment from Novartis, and up to $1.55 billion in milestone payments and royalties on product sales, the Beijing-headquartered company said in a statement.
Novartis will co-develop and commercialize tislelizumab in North America, the European Union, Japan and six other countries, BeiGene said, adding BeiGene would be responsible for funding ongoing clinical trials of tislelizumab.
Both parties have freedom to conduct combination trials globally under the deal, it said.
Chinese regulators last June accepted Hong Kong-listed BeiGene’s new drug application of tislelizumab combining with chemotherapy for treatment of patients with advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer.
(Reporting by Derek Francis in Bengaluru; editing by Richard Pullin)
