Sumitomo licensing Novirio's hep B drug

Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals, based in Osaka, Japan, has signed a licensingagreement with Novirio of the USA, with reference to the latter's LdT, a nucleoside for the treatment of hepatitis B. Under the terms of the deal, Sumitomo will co-develop and market LdT in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China, in exchange for making upfront and milestone payments of $46 million.

In addition, the firms will share global development costs plus royalties on the sale of the product in the aforementioned territories, while Novirio retains all development and commercial rights to LdT for the rest of the world. The Massachusetts-based firm said it intends to build its own sales and marketing teams in Europe and North America to support the commercialization of LdT and subsequent Novirio product launches.

According to the World Health Organization, there are more than 350 million people with chronic HBV infections worldwide, and the territories for which Sumitomo has licensed LdT represent approximately one-third of all such cases.