S.Korea's Alteogen signs $145 million tech export deal with Swiss company

South Korea's bio company Alteogen Inc. on Friday said it signed its fourth technology export contract since its 2018 development of the human recombinant hyaluronidase ALT-B4, this time to provide ALT-B4 source technology to the Swiss company Sandoz. 

Alteogen developed ALT-B4 through its technology Hybrozyme, a formulation change platform for subcutaneous injection.

ALT-B4 enables a large volume of subcutaneous administration of drugs usually given as IV injections by temporarily hydrolyzing hyaluronan in the extracellular matrix.

The biosimilar developer Sandoz, which makes biologic medical products nearly identical to the originals, will apply ALT-B4 to one item and has the option of concluding additional contracts for two more items.  Alteogen will handle manufacturing and supplying the hyaluronidase for the Swiss company.

The contract amount including the down payment and technology phase or milestone fees is $145 million (183.9 billion won), or 447.2% of Alteogen's consolidated financial statement sales of 41.1 billion won in the previous year. If the post-marketing sales goal is met, the company will also receive a technology royalty equal to a certain percentage of net sales by region.

"Similar to our contract last year with Intas Pharmaceuticals of India, we will earn a royalty of 10% or more from sales after the market's launch," said an Alteogen source.

The company added that additional deals with Sandoz on new items will have conditions similar to the latest contract.

"An exclusive contract on the development of blockbuster SC-type products will raise the scalability of ALT-B4," said Park Soon-jae, Alteogen CEO.

A blockbuster drug is one that rakes in annual sales of over 1 trillion won.

Write to Jae-Young Han at jyhan@hankyung.com