[Courtesy of Kolon Life Science]
SEOUL -- Mundipharma, a U.S.-based multinational company, won an exclusive technology export contract from Kolon Life Science, the biosimilar arm of South Korea's Kolon Group, to launch Invossa, the world's first cell-mediated gene therapy for degenerative arthritis, in Japan.
Kolon Life said Monday that Mundipharma has exclusive rights to research, develop, patent and commercialize Invossa in Japan. The contract is effective for 15 years after the launch of Invossa in Japan.
The contract's total value is $591.6 million, including an upfront payment of $26.6 million and $565 million in milestone payments that are paid when each milestone is achieved. Royalties are based on net sales after commercialization in Japan.
In December last year, Kolon Life saw the cancellation of an Invossa contract with Japan's Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma.
Kolon Life has described Invossa as a game changer in the global degenerative joint disease market, vowing to seek approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2021. The company claimed a single injection would grant more than two years of pain-free movement in the knee without the immediate need for surgery.
Kolon TissueGene, the U.S subsidiary of Kolon Life, has been allowed to conduct phase 3 clinical trials involving some 1,020 patients diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis at 60 American hospitals. Clinical trials at American hospitals would involve patients with light orthopedic symptoms in the knee.
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