AbbVie partners with China's RemeGen on experimental tumor treatment

Jan 12 (Reuters) - AbbVie ABBV.N said on Monday it would partner with Chinese drug developer RemeGen 688331.SS for an experimental treatment targeting solid tumors, aiming to strengthen its oncology portfolio.

The U.S. company said it would gain development, manufacturing and commercial rights to RemeGen's RC148, being developed as a monotherapy and could be used as a combination treatment for multiple advanced solid tumors with high unmet need, including non-small cell lung cancer and colorectal cancer.

U.S. drugmakers are increasingly licensing molecules from China for potential new medicines, betting that small upfront payments can eventually yield multibillion-dollar treatments.

A licensing agreement grants a company the rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize another company's pharmaceutical products or technologies in exchange for future target-based, or "milestone" payments, while mitigating development risks.

RemeGen will receive $650 million upfront and is eligible for up to $4.95 billion in aggregate milestone payments, along with tiered, double-digit royalties on net sales of RC148 outside the Greater China territory.

RC148 works by binding to and inhibiting the proteins PD-1 and VEGF, which are responsible for driving cancer progression.

AbbVie said RemeGen's drug may offer new opportunities in combination with its antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), a class of cancer medicines that works like guided missiles by directly delivering chemotherapy into tumor cells while limiting exposure to healthy tissue.

In early clinical studies, RC148 has shown initial favorable antitumor activity in combination with an ADC, it said.