CGeneTech, a company focused on both internal R&D and outbound alliances, recently announced that it has signed an exclusive collaboration and license agreement with Yunxuan Pharmaceuticals to acquire exclusive global development and commercialization rights for one of its preclinical chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) antagonists.

CXCR4 belongs to a family of cytokine receptors that form the?CXCR4/SDF-1 signaling axis with its natural ligand, stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1), and plays an important role in the infiltration and metastasis of malignant tumors, migration and homing of stem cells, the immune and inflammatory response of the body, and HIV virus infection. According to the cutting-edge international research, this selective antagonist can be applied in the following therapeutic areas: (i) overcoming malignant tumor brain metastasis, overcoming primary and secondary tumor drug resistance in combination with immunotherapy, reducing tumor stem cell escape in combination with targeted angiogenic drugs, etc., and reducing tumor recurrence in combination with radiotherapy and chemotherapy. ②As a small molecule stem cell mobilizer, it is used in first-line consolidation and second-line salvage autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for patients with multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. ③For the treatment of WHIM syndrome, an inherited primary autoimmune rare disease, for which there is still no effective therapeutic drug approved.

Professor Xiaohu Zhang, founder of Yunxuan Pharmaceuticals, said, "As an old classmate of the same year in the chemistry department of Peking University, I am very familiar with the entrepreneurial team of CGeneTech, and I most appreciate the execution and control of the project by Torping Ding and Qiang Yu. I believe they can take this compound I designed and synthesized, continue to nurture it like a child, and eventually turn it into a good drug."

Dr. Qiang Yu, CEO of CGeneTech, thanked his old classmate for his trust and said, "Through preclinical head-to-head experimental comparisons, we believe that Professor Zhang's compound has best-in-class or first-in-class potential in multiple therapeutic areas, which is in line with CGeneTech's R&D philosophy We are in the process of completing our diabetes pipeline. After improving our pipeline in diabetes, we have recently started to develop our portfolio in antineoplastic and rare diseases. With the introduction of this variety, it is just as well that the whole package is vivid with the fall of Tianyuan."

It is reported that according to the terms of the agreement, CGeneTech will pay back to Yunxuan Pharmaceuticals in stages in the form of advance payment, R&D milestone payment and sales commission.