Haisco Medicine Group Co., Ltd. announced on June 1 that its wholly-owned subsidiary Haisco Medicine Technology (Lhasa) Co., Ltd. signed a "Authorization and R&D Cooperation Agreement" with US company Eli Lilly and Company on May 29. The two parties will carry out strategic cooperation in the research and development of innovative drugs for various medical conditions.

According to the agreement, Hisicor will rely on its mature small molecule innovation technology platform and efficient drug development capabilities to be responsible for the discovery and early research development of up to five innovative drug projects selected by Eli Lilly. Eli Lilly will obtain global exclusive rights to these projects, except in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region, and Taiwan region of China, while Hisicor will retain exclusive rights to some projects in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region, and Taiwan region of China.

According to the agreement, Haisco has the right to receive a down payment and recent payments of up to $87 million, as well as follow-up milestone payments of up to $2.967 billion. It also has the right to receive tiered sales commissions based on future net sales of the product.

This collaboration is the first authorization and research development partnership between Hisicore and Eli Lilly. Both parties will leverage their respective strengths in innovative drug development to accelerate the global advancement of innovative drugs.