Eli Lilly is betting $1B-plus that it can make yet another PD-1 drug a hit in the US. How about a deep discount this time?
Eli Lilly is importing an anti-PD-1 therapy from China with plans for a quick march to the FDA. And the pharma giant is willing to spend more than a billion dollars to make the partnership work with its longtime partner in Asia.
But with 6 similar checkpoints already on the market, are we getting any closer to a deep discount on the price?
Lilly announced this morning that it is paying $200 million upfront to gain US and ex-China rights to Tyvyt, the checkpoint it developed with Innovent for the Chinese market. Another $825 million has been reserved for milestone payments to cover development and marketing for the drug, which is already approved in China. And it’s headed to the FDA in search of the 7th PD-(L)1 approval in the US, with a promise of royalties to come.
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