(Yicai) June 2 -- Haisco Pharmaceutical Group has signed a deal with US drugmaker Eli Lilly to jointly develop innovative medicines that could bring in more than USD3 billion for the Chinese company.

Under the agreement penned on May 29, Haisco will handle drug discovery and early-stage development for up to five innovative drug programs selected by Lilly and using the Chengdu-based firm’s proprietary small-molecule innovative technology platform, it said late yesterday.

If the programs are successful, Lilly will have exclusive rights to the resulting products in global markets outside of China, while Haisco will retain exclusive rights to some of the projects in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan.

Haisco, which develops new products for anesthesia and pain management, respiratory diseases, cancer, autoimmune disorders and chronic conditions, will receive upfront and near-term payments of as much as USD87 million, as well as nearly USD2.97 billion in later milestone payments. It will also be eligible for single-digit tiered royalties on future product sales.

After gaining by as much as 2.6 percent in Shenzhen today, Haisco’s shares [SHE: 002653] closed 0.3 percent higher at CNY50.29 (USD7.44) each, taking the firm’s market capitalization to about CNY57.8 billion (USD8.54 billion). The stock is down 2 percent since the end of last year.

At the end of last month, Haisco’s Cipepofol became the first innovative intravenous anesthetic made in China to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the US market.

Editor: Futura Costaglione