ShangPharma Subsidiary and Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Partner in Therapeutic Antibody Research and Development

ShangPharma Corporation SHP and Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co., Ltd. today announced that Shanghai ChemPartner, a wholly owned subsidiary of ShangPharma, and Hengrui have entered into a strategic partnership for the development of novel therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. Through the partnership, ChemPartner and Hengrui will initially collaborate on the development of novel therapeutic mAbs in a major therapeutic area. ChemPartner will head pre-clinical research activities, including target protein preparation and assay system establishment, generation and optimization of lead antibodies, as well as pharmacokinetic and preformulation studies, while Hengrui will lead drug development for the mAb. Following the project's completion, Hengrui will retain the intellectual property rights of the mAb and any patents related to the mAb's development. The first program will have several preclinical and development milestone payments, as well as a timeline-based incentive payment.