BRIEF—Aslan buys full global varlitinib rights in deal worth up to $129 million

Clinical-stage oncology-focused biotech Aslan Pharmaceuticals has acquired full commercial rights for varlitinib from USA-based Array BioPharma.

The new licensing agreement replaces the prior licensing agreement signed in 2011 to develop and sublicense varlitinib, which did not grant commercial rights to the Singapore-headquartered company.

Aslan will make an upfront payment of $12 million to Array on signature and a further payment of up to $12 million within the next year, together with up to $30 million of development and $75 million of commercial milestones, as well as tiered low double-digit royalties as a percentage of net sales of varlitinib.

Carl Firth, chief executive officer of Aslan Pharmaceuticals, said: “Acquiring full global commercial rights to varlitinib is a significant positive move for Aslan. Varlitinib has demonstrated strong efficacy in the studies that we have conducted since signing the original licensing agreement with Array, in biliary tract, gastric, breast and colorectal cancer.

“Based on this data, we want to take the drug to market and commercialize it ourselves in certain geographies, which was not contemplated under the original agreement. The new agreement allows us to retain much more downstream value from our own commercial and future partnering activities.”