Positive fruquintinib results trigger Lilly payment to Hutchison MediPharma

Hutchison MediPharma (HMP), an R&D company majority owned by China’s Chi-Med, is set to receive a total of $18 million in payments, in the second quarter of 2015, from US pharma major Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY).

The payments have been triggered by the positive result of the first proof-of-concept (POC) study of fruquintinib in the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) in China. Fruquintinib, a novel selective inhibitor of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor tyrosine kinases, was discovered by HMP. Full details of the mCRC POC results will be published at a major medical meeting later this year.

Pursuant to the licensing, co-development, and commercialization agreement entered into by HMP and Lilly in 2013, HMP will receive a $10 million mCRC POC milestone. In addition, HMP will receive a total of $8 million in reimbursements for costs associated with the planning and launch of the FRESCO Phase III mCRC registration study in China, as well as for the establishment of related clinical supply production facilities in Suzhou, Jiangsu province in China.