Kezar Life Sciences enters into collaboration pact with Everest Medicines

Kezar Life Science “announced that it entered into a collaboration and license agreement with Everest Medicines, a biopharmaceutical company focused on development, manufacturing and commercialization of innovative medicines and vaccines, to develop and commercialize zetomipzomib, Kezar’s novel, first-in-class selective immunoproteasome inhibitor, in Greater China, South Korea and Southeast Asia. Under the terms of the agreement, Kezar will receive an initial upfront payment, as well as future payments upon achievement of development, regulatory and commercialization milestones, for a potential total of up to $132.5 million. Everest Medicines will also pay tiered royalties on net sales. Everest Medicines will have exclusive rights to develop and commercialize zetomipzomib in Greater China, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Everest Medicines will join Kezar on PALIZADE, a global, placebo-controlled Phase 2b clinical trial evaluating zetomipzomib in patients with active lupus nephritis, in Greater China, South Korea and Southeast Asia. Everest Medicines has a successful track record of conducting clinical trials in renal disease, which provides the potential to accelerate enrollment in these geographies. For the PALIZADE trial, Everest Medicines will contribute their local regulatory and clinical trial expertise and will be responsible for study costs in the licensed territories. In addition to LN, Kezar and Everest Medicines have the opportunity to collaborate on future clinical trials and indications for the continued development of zetomipzomib.”