WASHINGTON, D.C. – March 13, 2023 – Global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP advised clinical-stage drug development company AnnJi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd on a licensing agreement worth up to $250 million in future development, regulatory, and commercialization milestone payments with Avenue Therapeutics.
The agreement grants Avenue licensing rights to AJ201, a novel small molecule new drug and a first-in-class treatment with the potential to treat Kennedy’s disease through multiple mechanisms, including degradation of the abnormal androgen receptor protein. Under the deal, Avenue’s development and commercialization rights extend to the United States, Canada, European Union, Great Britain, and Israel. Kennedy’s disease, caused by a genetic mutation affecting primarily males, is a rare disorder causing muscle weakness, cramps, and fatigue.
Avenue will issue 831,618 shares of its common stock to AnnJi with the initial closing of the license transaction as an equity upfront and provide $3 million in cash. AnnJi retains the manufacturing right to provide clinical and commercial supply of AJ201 to Avenue under the agreed sale price and will be compensated for any of Avenue’s sublicense activity. Based on the program’s progress, AnnJi will be further granted up to 19.9% of Avenue’s stocks as applicable.
This agreement is one of the largest license deals for a small molecule drug in early Phase 1b/2a clinical development in the past 24 months.
For more information, click here for AnnJi’s press release.
The cross-practice Greenberg Traurig team was led by Washington, D.C. Health Care & FDA Practice Shareholder Chia-Feng Lu and included Intellectual Property & Technology Shareholders David M. Greenberg in New York and Paul F. McQuade in Washington, D.C.; Litigation Shareholder James W. Perkins in New York; and Corporate Shareholder Jason T. Simon in Northern Virginia.
Additional support was provided out of the firm’s Washington, D.C. office by Health Care & FDA Practice Of Counsel Tess Dillon Meyer and Associates Nicole Galli Baptista; Corporate Associates Blake E. Grow, Joseph K. Kunnirickal, and Christopher T. Turek; Intellectual Property & Technology Associate David G. Mata; and New York Intellectual Property & Technology Associate Jade Li-Yu Chen.