Hutchmed Regulatory News (HCM)

20 Aug 2007 07:00

Hutchison China Meditech Limited20 August 2007 Hutchison China MediTech Limited ("Chi-Med") (AIM: HCM) Chi-Med Announces Drug Discovery and Development Agreement with Eli Lilly and Company London, Monday, 20 August 2007: Chi-Med, the Hutchison Whampoa backedpharmaceutical and healthcare Group, today announces that its wholly-owned drugR&D subsidiary, Hutchison MediPharma R&D Limited ("Hutchison MediPharma"), hasentered into a drug discovery and development agreement with Eli Lilly andCompany ("Lilly") (NYSE: LLY). Under the agreement, Lilly and Hutchison MediPharma will initially collaborateon the discovery and development of pharmaceutical agents focused on targets inoncology and inflammation. Hutchison MediPharma will assume primaryresponsibility for the discovery phase activities necessary for theidentification and selection of several clinical candidates and Lilly will beresponsible for ongoing technical advice and the subsequent Investigational NewDrug filing and clinical development of these candidates. The researchpartnership leverages the strengths and expertise of the two companies whiletaking advantage of the unique opportunities available in China to expedite thedrug discovery process, and reduce overall cost. Hutchison MediPharma will receive from Lilly an upfront payment and annual R&Dsupport fees, as well as potential discovery and development milestone paymentsdepending on the candidate of up to a range of US$20 million to US$29 millionper candidate, and potential royalties on worldwide sales of any commercialisedproducts resulting from the collaboration. In the event that Lilly exercises itsoption not to move forward with a candidate, Hutchison MediPharma will itself beable to take the findings and continue with the candidate. Detailed financialterms are not disclosed. Dr. Samantha Du, Chief Scientific Officer for Chi-Med and Managing Director ofHutchison MediPharma Limited, commented on the collaboration agreement: "This isa landmark deal for both Hutchison MediPharma and Chi-Med. At HutchisonMediPharma, we aim to discover and develop innovative medicines to meet globalmarket needs with big Pharma quality, biotech speed and China's attractive costbase. We have built a strong drug discovery and development platform focused ononcology and auto-immune indications in the past few years. Today's announcementfurther validates our business model and capabilities. Lilly is a recognisedglobal leader in new drug discovery and development. We are proud to have theopportunity to collaborate with Lilly." "Lilly is pleased to partner with Hutchison MediPharma on this groundbreakingresearch initiative", said Dr. William W. Chin, M.D., Vice President ofdiscovery research and clinical investigation for Lilly. "Hutchison MediPharmais clearly a leader in China's R&D arena. They have demonstrated their R&Dquality through a successful pilot program conducted with Lilly. We believeHutchison MediPharma has the strategic interest and capabilities to advancethese Lilly molecules, and we are excited to explore this innovative researchcollaboration model with them." Ends Enquiries Chi-Med Telephone: +852 2121 8200Christian Hogg, CEO Citigate Dewe Rogerson Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7638 9571Anthony Carlisle +44 (0) 7973 611 888Yvonne Alexander +44 (0) 7866 610 682 About Chi-Med Chi-Med is the holding company of a pharmaceutical and healthcare group basedprimarily in China and was admitted to trading on the Alternative InvestmentMarket of the London Stock Exchange in May 2006. Chi-Med focuses on research,development, manufacture, and sale of pharmaceuticals, health supplements andother consumer and personal care products derived from Traditional ChineseMedicine and botanical ingredients. Hutchison MediPharma is Chi-Med's wholly-owned drug R&D subsidiary and, throughChi-Med's wholly-owned subsidiary Hutchison MediPharma Limited ("HMPL") inShanghai, has at its disposal a team of around 140 scientists and staff focusingon discovery and development of botanical drugs, semi-synthetic natural productdrugs, and synthetic single chemical entity drugs. HMPL currently has twocandidates in clinical development in both the US and China. HMPL-002, aradiosensitiser for head and neck cancer and non-small cell lung cancer, is inPhase I/II in the US and in proof-of-concept in China. HMPL-004, an inhibitor toa group of inflammatory cytokines, has completed the Phase II proof-of-conceptstudy in Ulcerative Colitis and is in Phase II studies in Crohn's disease in theUS. HMPL also has a pipeline of single new chemical entity discovery projects inauto-immune/inflammatory diseases and oncology therapeutic areas. Chi-Med is majority owned by Hutchison Whampoa Limited, an internationalcorporation listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange