SillaJen Acquires Swiss Basilea's Anticancer Drug Pipeline 'BAL0891'

World's First Dual TTK·PLK1 Inhibitor in Development
"Strengthening Anti-Cancer Pipeline... Completed Exchange-Requested New Substance Introduction Task"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] ShillaJen announced on the 20th that it has signed a licensing agreement for the anticancer drug candidate 'BAL0891' with Swiss pharmaceutical company Basilea.

The contract is valued at approximately 335 million USD, with an upfront payment of 14 million USD, and milestones totaling about 321 million USD. Most of the milestones are contingent upon successful commercialization.

BAL0891 is a Mitotic Checkpoint Inhibitor (MCI) that inhibits two kinases, TTK and PLK1, which are involved in tumor initiation and growth.

Currently, foreign companies are developing TTK inhibitors and PLK1 inhibitors separately, but BAL0891 is the only inhibitor that targets both simultaneously. By inhibiting these two key kinases at the same time, it is expected to strongly suppress cancer growth.

In particular, BAL0891 has already received FDA approval for Phase 1 clinical trials in metastatic solid tumors, allowing immediate clinical entry, with the goal of enrolling the first patient within this year.

A ShillaJen official stated, "We aim to maximize the intrinsic value of BAL0891 by leveraging ShillaJen's experience in anticancer drug development, understanding of immune checkpoint inhibitor mechanisms, and know-how in combination therapies with immuno-oncology agents," adding, "With this new compound licensing, we have completed all tasks assigned by the exchange."

Earlier, ShillaJen, which was granted a six-month improvement period in February, submitted the improvement plan implementation report and expert verification documents on the 8th. The exchange plans to hold a KOSDAQ Market Committee meeting within 20 business days from the document submission date to review and decide on delisting.

Meanwhile, Basilea is a Swiss listed company spun off from Roche in 2000, headquartered in Basel.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.