YONGIN, South Korea, Feb. 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- GC Pharma (formerly known as Green Cross Corporation) (KRX: 006280), a South Korean biopharmaceutical company, and Lee's Pharmaceutical (HK) Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lee's Pharmaceutical Holdings Limited ("Lee's Pharm") (SEHK: 0950) today announced that they have entered into an agreement granting Lee's Pharm exclusive rights to develop and commercialise GCC-4401C, GC Pharma's investigational oral Factor Xa inhibitor anticoagulant which currently completed Phase I clinical development in the U.S. for the prevention and treatment of thromboembolic disease.
Under the terms of the agreement, Lee's Pharm receives exclusive rights to develop and commercialise the anticoagulant for the greater China and South East Asian market. GC Pharma will receive an undisclosed up-front payment and is eligible to receive milestone payments and royalties on future net sales.
"China and the surrounding Asian markets represent a significant opportunity for oral Factor Xa inhibitor," said Joon Soo Ryu, Ph. D., vice president of GC Pharma. "We need to have a partner having strong expertise in the Chinese market and we are delighted to further enhance the value of GCC-4401C through this partnership with Lee's Pharm."
"The Group is currently the market leader in the anti-thrombotic area, including Livaracine, our proprietary low molecular weight heparin. We have a robust pipeline of anti-thrombotics, such as a Phase II anti-platelet drug, Anfibatide, a Phase III Warfarin like anticoagulant, Tecarfarin and a synthetic anti-thrombotic agent, Fondaparinux," said Dr. Benjamin LI, Chief Executive of Lee's Pharm. "The Factor Xa inhibitor anticoagulant, GCC-4401C, complements the Group's existing products and pipelines which can further enhance the Group's market position in anti-thrombotic area.''
About GCC-4401C
GCC-4401C, GC Pharma's investigational drug, directly inhibits the activity of Factor Xa, an important validated target in the blood coagulation pathway, to prevent thrombosis. GCC-4401C has the potential to become the best in class of active factor Xa inhibitors available, as it shows similar efficacy but less bleeding side effects in a Pre-clinical study and a Phase I clinical study. This research was supported by Korea Drug Development Fund, funded by Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, and Ministry of Health and Welfare (KDDF-201210-04, Republic of Korea). GCC-4401C was originated by Legochem Bioscience and licensed to GC Pharma in 2009.
About GC Pharma
GC Pharma (formerly known as Green Cross Corporation) is a biopharmaceutical company that delivers life-saving and life-sustaining protein therapeutics and vaccines. Headquartered in South Korea, GC Pharma is the largest plasma protein product manufacturer in Asia and has been dedicated to quality healthcare solutions more than half a century. Green Cross Corporation updated its corporate brand as GC Pharma in early 2018. Green Cross Corporation remains the company's registered, legal name.
About Lee's Pharm
Lee's Pharm is a research-based Hong Kong biopharmaceutical company listed in Hong Kong with more than 20 years of operation in China's pharmaceutical industry. It is fully integrated with strong infrastructures in drug development, manufacturing, sales and marketing. It has established extensive partnerships with more than 20 international companies and currently has 14 products in the market place. Lee's Pharm focuses on several key disease areas such as cardiovascular, oncology, gynecology, dermatology and ophthalmology. The company's development program is lauded with over 50 products stemming from both internal R&D efforts and collaborations with US, European and Japanese companies, including promising compounds to treat diseases such as liver cancer and pulmonary hypertension. The mission of Lee's Pharm is to become a successful biopharmaceutical group in Asia providing innovative products to fight diseases and improve health and quality of life.
Additional information about Lee's Pharm is available at www.leespharm.com.
This release includes forward-looking statements, which express the current beliefs and expectations of GC Pharma's and Lee's Pharm's management. Such statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.