Oscotec licenses autoimmune drug candidate to Agios in deal worth up to 1 trillion won

Oscotec, a South Korean next-generation drug development company, has signed a major technology licensing deal worth up to 1 trillion won with a Nasdaq-listed global biopharmaceutical firm.

The agreement marks Oscotec's third technology out-licensing deal since its founding, again demonstrating the competitive strength of its in-house drug pipeline on the global stage.

Oscotec said Monday it had signed a technology transfer agreement with Agios Pharmaceuticals, a US company specializing in rare disease treatments, covering the autoimmune disease drug candidate cevidoplenib.

Under the deal, Oscotec will transfer to Agios exclusive global rights — excluding South Korea — to clinically develop and commercialize cevidoplenib.

Under the terms of the agreement, Oscotec will first receive a non-refundable upfront payment of $25 million (about 37.5 billion won). The total deal value, including milestone payments tied to clinical development, regulatory approval and commercialization, could reach up to $665 million (about 1 trillion won). Separate running royalties on net sales after commercialization will be paid on top of that. Technology fees will be split between Oscotec and co-developer Genosco at a ratio of 75 percent to 25 percent, under a contract the two companies signed in 2016.

Cevidoplenib is an oral small-molecule drug candidate that selectively inhibits spleen tyrosine kinase, or SYK, which is overexpressed in immune cells. It suppresses autoantibody-driven inflammation at an early stage to treat immune thrombocytopenia, or ITP, and rheumatoid arthritis. The candidate has already completed a global Phase 2 trial and, based on its strong efficacy and safety profile, received US Food and Drug Administration orphan drug designation for the treatment of ITP in 2024.

Agios is a specialist pharmaceutical company with a track record of winning drug approvals in rare blood disorders, including treatments for thalassemia and pyruvate kinase, or PK, deficiency. Oscotec identified Agios as the optimal partner to maximize the value of cevidoplenib and plans to use the deal as a springboard to concentrate its medium- and long-term R&D capabilities fully on developing anticancer agents that overcome drug resistance.

"We determined that Agios, with its outstanding expertise in rare blood disorders, is the ideal partner to develop cevidoplenib into a global drug," said Yoon Tae-young, chief executive of Oscotec. "This agreement reaffirms our drug R&D competitiveness, and we will accelerate work on our core pipeline going forward."

Before the cevidoplenib deal, Oscotec had completed two earlier technology out-licensing agreements with global pharmaceutical companies.

The first involved lazertinib, a treatment for non-small cell lung cancer. Oscotec transferred the technology for lazertinib to Yuhan at the preclinical stage in 2015, and Yuhan subsequently signed a licensing agreement with Janssen, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, in 2018.

Milestone payments Yuhan received from Janssen began with an upfront fee of $50 million in November 2018 and were paid in stages as combination development progressed, combination Phase 3 dosing began, and commercialization launched in the United States, Japan, China and Europe. Cumulative milestones to date, including the upfront fee, total $300 million (about 447.5 billion won). Under the sublicense revenue arrangement — divided among Yuhan, Oscotec and Genosco at a ratio of 6:2:2 — Oscotec secured a 40 percent combined share widely regarded as far exceeding what a typical biotech venture would receive.

The second deal involved ADEL-Y01, a drug candidate for Alzheimer's disease. Oscotec transferred ADEL-Y01 — a tau protein-targeting Alzheimer's drug candidate co-developed with Adel — to global healthcare company Sanofi in 2025. The total deal value reaches up to $1.04 billion (about 1.53 trillion won), with Oscotec and Adel set to receive an upfront payment of $80 million (about 118 billion won); profits will be split 53 percent to Adel and 47 percent to Oscotec.

ADEL-Y01 is an antibody candidate that selectively targets acetylated tau, a key pathological factor in Alzheimer's disease. By selectively recognizing and blocking pathological tau while minimizing effects on normal tau, it is expected to suppress disease progression.