Daewoong Pharmaceutical said Thursday that the company has out-licensed its gastroesophageal reflux disease agent Fexuprazan to Shanghai Haini Pharmaceutical for 380 billion won.

The deal included an upfront payment of 6.8 billion won and 13.6 billion won in milestone payments, the company added.

Under the agreement, Shanghai Haini has acquired rights to conduct clinical studies for the agent used to treat a digestive disorder. Shanghai Haini would also be in charge of the entire approval process in China, while its parent company Yangtze River Pharmaceutical Group will be responsible for marketing the agent.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical expected that the company’s recent signing with one of China’s largest pharmaceutical groups could help Fexuprazan become a blockbuster agent in the Chinese market.

“(Daewoong Pharmaceutical) has again succeeded in winning a large-sized contract (in China), after the company inked export deals with Mexican and Brazilian firms last year. The company would continue to make the best efforts to enter overseas pharmaceutical markets, including in the US, Europe and Middle East,” said Park Hyun-jin, the head of the global business division at Daewoong.

Fexuprazan is a class of potassium-competitive acid blockers, used in treatment of acid-related disorders. The novel medicine is considered as a replacement for proton pump inhibitors, which are widely used for gastroesophageal reflux disease,

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)