Alteogen Signs New $365 Million Technology Out-Licensing Deal... "Aiming for Multiple Product Agreements in the Second Half"

Exclusive License for a Single Product; Partner and Indication Undisclosed

Third Deal This Year; Per-Product Pricing on the Rise

Alteogen has signed an exclusive license agreement for its subcutaneous (SC) formulation technology, ALT-B4, with a global pharmaceutical company. This marks the company’s third technology out-licensing agreement this year.

On August 5, Alteogen announced that it had entered into an exclusive license agreement with a global pharmaceutical company to develop and commercialize the SC formulations of biopharmaceuticals using its recombinant human hyaluronidase ALT-B4, which is based on the Hybrozyme platform.

Exterior view of Alteogen headquarters and research institute. Alteogen

The deal is valued at up to $365 million (approximately KRW 521.9 billion), including upfront payments and milestone payments related to development, approval, and commercialization. In addition, Alteogen will receive a separate royalty based on net sales once the product is commercialized. The agreement covers a single biopharmaceutical product, while the partner and the specific indication remain undisclosed.

Earlier this year, Alteogen signed an SC formulation development agreement with GSK for the immuno-oncology drug Jemperli in January and a technology out-licensing agreement with Biogen in March. An Alteogen representative commented in a phone interview, "This is our third license agreement this year, and we expect to continue entering into additional agreements throughout the second half of the year. We are currently in discussions with several companies regarding license deals."

There are also expectations that the scale of Alteogen’s deals in the second half of the year could increase. The value of its agreements is structured to increase depending on the number of products to which the partner applies ALT-B4. Recent contracts have been set at around $300 million (approximately KRW 430 billion) per product. This latest agreement also targets a single product, hence the $365 million (about KRW 521.9 billion) figure.

According to industry sources, there are cases under discussion where Alteogen may sign contracts covering multiple products at once during the second half of the year. In such cases, the contract size expands proportionally to the number of products involved.

The per-product pricing has also been on the rise. Simple calculations indicate that the GSK deal in January was valued at $285 million (about KRW 407.8 billion) per product, while the Biogen deal in March was worth $289 million (about KRW 413.6 billion) per product.

SC formulations are becoming the standard among global pharmaceutical companies. While anticancer drugs have traditionally been administered intravenously, the shift to the SC route is accelerating due to shorter administration times and greater patient convenience. The scope of SC applications is expanding beyond cancer drugs, including to treatments for autoimmune diseases, and as this continues, demand for SC formulation conversion technology is also increasing.

Taeyoun Jeon, CEO of Alteogen, stated, "We are honored to have entered into this licensing agreement with a partner that has led the way in developing innovative therapies for areas where unmet medical needs are high. Going forward, we will accelerate the growth of our platform business through global partnerships."

This agreement comes immediately after successful results for Merck’s (MSD) Keytruda QuRex, formulated with ALT-B4, which exceeded market expectations in the second quarter. Keytruda QuRex recorded second-quarter sales of $463 million (about KRW 662.5 billion), surpassing Wall Street’s consensus of $283 million (about KRW 404.9 billion) compiled by financial data provider FactSet by 64%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.