Ropes & Gray Represents CStone Pharmaceuticals in Two Global Licensing Transactions

Ropes & Gray represented China-based CStone Pharmaceuticals in two licensing transactions.

CStone formed a global strategic partnership with biotech EQRx to out-license two late-stage immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies for development and commercialization outside of Greater China.

Under terms of the agreement, CStone will receive an upfront payment of $150 million and up to $1.15 billion in milestone payments for both therapies as well as separate tiered royalties. The antibody therapies are being tested in patients with lymphoma and in Phase 3 studies in non-small cell lung cancer, gastric cancer and esophageal cancer.

EQRx is a recently launched U.S. biopharmaceutical company with an innovative business model that will allow these therapies to be competitively positioned in global markets against established treatments for the target indications.

Separately, CStone entered a license agreement with South Korea-based LegoChem Biosciences for development and commercialization of a new antibody drug conjugate with applications for multiple solid and hematological cancers.

Under terms of the agreement, CStone obtained the exclusive global right to lead development and commercialization of the therapy outside of South Korea. LegoChem Biosciences will receive an upfront payment of $10 million, and up to $353.5 million in cumulative milestone payments, plus tiered royalties.

The team advising CStone was led by IP transactions partners David McIntosh and Hannah Freeman (all of Boston).