
EXCLUSIVE: Zai Lab’s Samantha Du scoops up China rights to an autoimmune drug with a hefty $175M licensing deal — heavily fronted with cash and stock
Argenx $ARGX has just scored a major licensing pact with Samantha Du’s Zai Lab, and it includes some of the largest numbers in cash and near-term milestones we’ve seen in the sector.
Du’s company has landed the regional rights to the biotech’s promising autoimmune drug efgartigimod in a pact covering China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. In exchange, argenx CEO Tim Van Hauwermeiren is getting a $75 million upfront in Zai Lab stock, another $75 million as a guarantee from Zai Lab for their cost-sharing arrangement, and another $25 million milestone tied to US approval of the late-stage drug.
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