Chinese biopharmaceutical company Innovent Biologics Inc (HK:01801) and US-based pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE), have announced on Thursday that they have entered into a strategic global licensing and collaboration agreement for the research and development of 12 promising new breakthrough early-stage and de novo cancer medicines.

This partnership includes licensing, co-development, and co-commercialisation opportunities across a diverse portfolio of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) with novel differentiated payloads and multi-specific antibodies with differentiated immune-engaging features and unique designs.

The strategic collaboration brings together Innovent's scientific discovery and clinical capabilities in oncology innovation with Pfizer's scientific expertise, global clinical development capabilities, regulatory experience and commercial scale.

The agreement spans a portfolio of 12 programmes comprising eight Innovent-originated early-stage programs and four Pfizer-proposed discovery programs. The companies will co-develop and share costs for selected programmes as they advance these programmes through clinical development.

Under the agreement, Innovent will conduct development of these programmes through Phase 1, powered by its proprietary discovery engine and early clinical capabilities, after which Pfizer will lead future global development.

Innovent will receive a USD650m upfront payment and is eligible for up to USD9.85bn in development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments, bringing the total value of the deal to up to USD10.5bn. Additionally, Innovent will receive up to double-digit royalties on sales of each licensed product if approved. For the 'co-developed, co-commercialised' programmes, the two companies will share the profits in the US and Europe.

Closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval.