(Yicai) Oct. 9 -- InnoCare Pharma’s share price skidded after the Beijing-based company licensed three innovative drugs to US firm Zenas BioPharma in a deal worth more than USD2 billion.

InnoCare [SHA: 688428] closed 6.3 percent lower at CNY26.74 (USD3.75) a share in Shanghai today, after opening up 10.2 percent. Its Hong Kong-listed stock [HKG: 9969] sank 11.6 percent to HKD16.62 (USD2.14).

Innocare granted Zenas the exclusive global rights to develop and commercialise orelabrutinib along with the exclusive rights outside of China and Southeast Asia to the experimental multiple sclerosis drug for other non-MS and non-oncology indications, it said yesterday.

The firm also granted Zenas the exclusive global or regional rights for two other novel drugs with inhibitor action that are still in pre-clinical development.

Shares of Zenas [NASDAQ: ZBIO], a global clinical-stage biopharma company focused on developing and acquiring promising therapies for autoimmune diseases, surged over 24 percent yesterday to USD25.90 each.

The agreement will accelerate the market development and commercialization of orelabrutinib and other products globally, InnoCare noted.

Under the deal, Nasdaq-listed Zenas will pay USD100 million as an upfront payment and in near-term milestone payments, plus seven million of its ordinary shares. The milestone payments for research and development, registration, and commercialization are expected to exceed USD2 billion.

Moreover, InnoCare will be entitled to receive tiered royalties of more than 10 percent of the annual net sales of the licensed drugs after they hit the market.

Orelabrutinib, marketed as Yinokai, is an oral small-molecule Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinase inhibitor used to treat hematological malignancies. It has been approved in the Chinese market and was included in the National Reimbursement Drug List in 2022, becoming the first BTK inhibitor approved for this indication in China.

InnoCare initiated Phase III clinical trials for primary progressive MS this month, and its clinical trial protocol has received guidance from and reached consensus with the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency.

InnoCare did not disclose more information about the two other drugs included in the deal.

Editor: Futura Costaglione