Aribio said on the 6th that it signed an exclusive distribution agreement for 10 ASEAN countries with global pharmaceutical company Fosun Pharmaceutical Group for the oral Alzheimer's treatment "AR1001."
The deal is worth about 630 billion won, and the global cumulative licensing value for AR1001, including this agreement, totals 2.99 trillion won.
The agreement includes an upfront payment upon signing and milestone payments made sequentially based on clinical development progress, regulatory approvals in each country, and commercialization stages. After commercialization, Aribio will also receive separate royalties linked to actual sales.
Fosun Pharmaceutical will exclusively handle the production, approval, and sales of AR1001 in 10 ASEAN countries, including Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Aribio excluded the Indian market from this agreement and left it for separate negotiations. Given that India is a large market with a population of about 1.4 billion, the company plans to start full-scale licensing talks after confirming the results of the global phase 3 trial scheduled for the first half of this year.
As of 2024, Fosun Pharmaceutical is a global drugmaker with sales of about 8.3 trillion won and is well known as a major shareholder of Sinopharm, China's largest pharmaceutical distributor. With strong production and distribution infrastructure and regulatory experience in China, the company is considered to have outstanding commercialization capabilities.
The global phase 3 trial of AR1001 is underway at more than 230 clinical sites in 13 countries, including Korea, China, North America, and Europe. Enrollment of 1,535 patients has already been completed, and the trial has entered its final stage with the goal of completion in the first half of this year and a topline announcement.
Chief Executive Jeong Jae-joon of Aribio said, "Fosun Pharmaceutical, which has strong commercialization capabilities, highly evaluated the potential of AR1001 and signed the agreement," adding, "As our global expansion strategy takes shape, the pace of market growth will accelerate further."
Fred Kim, head of Aribio's U.S. branch, said, "We plan to pursue licensing for key developed markets such as the United States, Europe, and Japan based on the results of the global phase 3 trial," and added, "We will conduct negotiations to ensure AR1001's clinical value and commercial potential are fully reflected."
Meanwhile, Aribio is pushing ahead with a merger with KOSDAQ-listed Solux, with the scheduled merger date on Mar. 27.