DRL, Japan's Eisai ink licensing pact for anticancer agent

Drug major Dr Reddy's Laboratories (DRL) has entered into a licensing pact with Japan's Eisai Co. Ltd for the development and commercialisation of latter's investigational anticancer agent E7777 for an undisclosed sum.

In a BSE filing, Dr Reddy's Laboratories said "it has entered into a licensing agreement with Eisai Co. Ltd, Japan by which Dr Reddy's will be granted exclusive worldwide development and commercialisation rights (excluding Japan and Asia) for Eisai's investigational anticancer agent E7777".

In exchange of these rights, Eisai will receive milestone payments in line with obtaining marketing approval and the achievement of agreed upon sales targets, it added.

It further said: "Eisai will be responsible for developing and marketing of E7777 in Japan and Asia, while Dr Reddy's holds the options for rights to develop and market the agent in India."

Through this agreement, the two companies aim to accelerate development and maximise the value of E7777.

"E7777 has significant potential as an important component of systemic therapy for CTCL (cutaneous T-cell lymphoma). This therapy represents an extension of our efforts in the dermatology space to an important segment of skin-related cancers," Dr Reddy's Laboratories Executive Vice President, Proprietary Products Group, Raghav Chari, said.

Share of Dr Reddy's Laboratories were trading 0.72 per cent up at Rs 3,034.95 apiece on BSE.