The agreement includes $123 million in upfront and potential development milestone payments from Kyowa to ArQule, of which ArQule previously received a $30 million cash licensing payment. The agreement also includes undisclosed sales milestone payments and provides for ArQule to receive double-digit royalties from Kyowa on net sales of ARQ 197 in certain Asian countries, consisting of Japan, China (including Hong Kong), South Korea and Taiwan, where Kyowa is responsible for clinical development costs and commercialization.
Peter Lawrence, COO of ArQule, said: “This milestone reflects both regulatory authority approval to initiate clinical testing in Japan and Kyowa’s continued diligence.”