Vivesto
Vivesto licenses Apealea to China’s Zhida Pharmaceutical
Solna, Sweden, March 17, 2025 – Vivesto AB, an oncology-focused development company, today announced it entered a licensing agreement with Zhejiang Zhida Pharmaceutical Ltd (Zhida Pharma) for the development, production and commercialization of Vivesto’s anticancer product Apealea® (paclitaxel micellar) in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. The terms include upfront and milestone payments worth of up to USD 5.85 million, as well as sales royalties when the product reaches the market.
Vivesto announced in November 2024 it had signed an option agreement with Zhida Pharma regarding Apealea pending Chinese regulatory due diligence. Vivesto will now receive an upfront payment of USD 250,000 as Zhida Pharma exercises its option and moves into a full license agreement, with additional milestone payments worth up to USD 5.6 million depending on Zhida Pharma’s achievement of future sales, clinical development, regulatory approval, and market authorization milestones, as well as high single-digit to low double-digit royalties on sales of Apealea.
“We look forward to working closely with Zhida Pharma to support the company as they prepare documentation for the Chinese authorities ahead of a pre-IND meeting and IND application,” said Erik Kinnman, CEO of Vivesto. “Zhida Pharma is an excellent partner for Vivesto, with its robust production capacity, drug development and commercial expertise, experience and network including the field of oncology. The agreement highlights and validates the commercial interest of our proprietary and unique paclitaxel formulation.”
Within the license agreement, Zhida Pharma will be responsible for all regulatory application processes in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, including a pre-IND meeting with the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) and the submission of the Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the Centre for Drug Evaluation (CDE). Vivesto will support Zhida Pharma with additional documentation regarding Apealea ahead of the process with Chinese authorities.
“We are excited to enter into this agreement with Vivesto. Apealea is a strong fit to our existing portfolio of nano drug delivery platforms. There is a clear market opportunity in ovarian cancer in these regions, and we see a significant commercial potential in Apealea,” said Margaret Chen, CEO at Zhida Pharma. “We will work closely with the Vivesto team to prepare all documentation required by the regulatory authorities and to secure manufacturing capabilities to enable the fastest route for Apealea to reach the market, providing ovarian cancer patients with a safe alternative to current paclitaxel treatments.”
Datum | 2025-03-18, kl 07:15 |
Källa | MFN |
