Pharmaceutical company Diurnal Group (LON: DNL) said on Wednesday that it has entered into an exclusive license agreement for its product, Alkindi, with Citrine Medicine Inc, another speciality pharmaceutical company.
The agreement will cover China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau, with Diurnal receiving a non-refundable upfront payment of $0.5 million and an additional $12.75 million in cash payments upon the achievement of regulatory and sales milestones. Diurnal will also receive tiered royalties on sales.
“With the increased focus from the Chinese health authorities on rare diseases in the past few years, we are delighted to have identified Citrine as a partner for Alkindi® in China. We have been impressed by Citrine's vision for the creation of a rare disease platform in China and the local development, regulatory and commercialisation expertise they are able to bring to the programme,” said Martin Whitaker, CEO of Diurnal.
Citrine is a company focused on the greater China market and will be responsible for obtaining registration for Alkindi as a treatment for paediatric patients in China and all commercialisation activities, including pricing and reimbursement.
Initially, Citrine will use Diurnal’s European supply chain products but will have an option to establish its own supply chain in China in the future.
Diurnal shares are currently trading at 59.4p, up 8% after initially reaching highs of 63p.
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