Biohaven Ltd. and Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. have entered a licensing and collaboration agreement under which Ono receives an exclusive license to develop and commercialize Biohaven's MoDE pan IgG degrader portfolio in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the countries of ASEAN, Biohaven said. The portfolio is led by BHV-1300 and includes the follow-on degraders BHV-1310 and BHV-1320.
Under the terms, Biohaven would receive up to $100 million in near-term payments, made up of $80 million upfront and another $20 million on a milestone the company expects to be reached within a year. Ono would also pay royalties of approximately twenty percent on net sales in the licensed territory. Biohaven keeps all rights outside that territory, including in the United States, Europe and China.
BHV-1300 is an investigational small-molecule extracellular IgG degrader and is in Phase 3 development for Graves' disease, its lead indication. In a Phase 1b study in patients with Graves' disease, the company reported a deep reduction in the pathogenic autoantibody to the TSH receptor, rapid normalization of free T3 and free T4 and improvement in patient symptoms, with IgG3 selectively spared and self-administration by autoinjector.
The companies described the agreement as the first regional collaboration for an extracellular protein degrader. Biohaven said its MoDE platform rests on chemistry that originated in research at Yale University, and that Ono brings development and commercial capabilities across the licensed territories.