BRIEF—HanAll BioPharma gets $30 million upfront from Roivant Sciences

South Korea’s HanAll Biopharma (009420: KS), an affiliate of Daewoong Pharmaceutical, has received a $30 million upfront payment from Switzerland-based biotech firm Roivant Sciences as a part of license-out deal for its autoimmune disease treatment HL161.

The Korean firm announced it licensed rights to the drug candidate that blocks pathogenic antibody recycling that causes autoimmune disease to Roivant Sciences, according to media reports, including by The Korea Herald,.

The contract is worth a total of $502.5 million, including $20 million for drug development costs and $452.5 million for potential milestone payments.

Roivant Sciences will undertake a Phase I clinical trial of HL161 which has been underway in Australia by Quintiles, a US contract research organization which since its merger with IMS Health is known as IQVIA, under a previous deal with HanAll BioPharma.