Licence agreement formed for Parkinson’s treatment to be made available in China

An exclusive licence agreement has been announced for the importation, packaging and commercialisation of Opicapone — a new treatment for Parkinson’s disease — in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan).

The agreement, formed between BIAL and Jiangsu Wanbang Biopharmaceutical Group (Wanbang), will involve an upfront licence fee of €2.5 million and up to €12.5 million in further milestones to be paid by Wanbang to BIAL.

Opicapone, (Ongentys, BIAL), is a once-daily, peripheraly-acting, highly-selective catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitor (COMT inhibitor). It received European Commission approval June 2016 as an adjunctive therapy to preparations of levodopa/DOPA decarboxylase inhibitors in adult patients with Parkinson’s disease and end-of-dose motor fluctuations who cannot be stabilised on those combinations.

“BIAL is committed to addressing the needs of patients and healthcare professionals worldwide. This license agreement is a landmark on BIAL’s expanding strategy as it marks the entering of our products in such an important market like China,” explained António Portela, chief executive officer of BIAL. “We are very pleased to work with Wanbang that shares our long-term vision for Ongentys and are excited to bring this important new treatment option to Chinese Parkinson’s patients.”

“We are pleased to partner with BIAL to introduce Opicapone to China for patients with Parkinson’s disease,” said Yifang Wu, executive director, president and chief executive officer of Fosun Pharma, and chairman of Wanbang. “We were impressed with the efficacy, safety and once-daily administration regimen of Opicapone. This collaboration will offer an alternative treatment for the unmet medical needs in China, and enrich the product portfolio of Wanbang and Fosun Pharma in the therapeutic area of CNS diseases, one of our strategic therapeutic areas. We look forward to collaborating with BIAL to import and commercialise Opicapone in China soon.”

Opicapone is marketed in European markets, like Germany, UK and Spain. BIAL anticipates additional EU launches of Opicapone over the current year.