Voronoi, $720 Billion Technology Export of Lung Cancer Treatment to US Oric

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Boronoi, a precision drug development specialist company, announced on the 21st that it has signed a technology transfer agreement with US-based Oric for a candidate drug for mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and solid tumors worth up to 720 billion KRW.

The signing fee is 13 million USD, and the total contract size is up to 621 million USD, which is approximately 720 billion KRW. If commercialization is ultimately successful, Boronoi will receive royalties of around 10% annually.

With this contract, Oric has obtained global rights excluding the Greater China region (China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan). Currently, there is no treatment targeting non-small cell lung cancer caused by Exon 20 insertion mutations. Boronoi’s lung cancer drug candidate selectively acts only on the carcinogenic Exon 20 insertion mutation, so it is expected to demonstrate excellent therapeutic effects.

Additionally, it has much higher brain penetration compared to competing lung cancer drug candidates. Among patients with Exon 20 insertion mutant lung cancer, 30-40% suffer from brain metastases, and successful commercialization is expected to offer hope to these patients. Another advantage is that it is an oral treatment, providing high convenience for patients.

Daegwon Kim, CEO of Boronoi, said, “We are pleased to partner with Oric, whose team has extensive experience in developing targeted therapies,” and added, “We hope the day will come soon when patients suffering from general chemotherapy due to the lack of targeted therapies can receive proper treatment.”

Jacob Chacko, CEO of Oric, said, “We are delighted to add a new pipeline to Oric, which has expertise in precision cancer treatment,” and added, “We will be able to leverage our previous experience developing the ROS1 mutant NSCLC treatment Entrectinib.” He further stated, “Boronoi’s highly selective and brain-penetrant drug will help patients who have not been treated so far.”

Oric is a Nasdaq-listed pharmaceutical company based in California, founded in 2014 by executives with experience working at global big pharma companies such as Roche, Pfizer, Genentech, and Biogen, and who have succeeded in developing anticancer drugs for NSCLC, prostate cancer, and others. Previously, the core executives founded Ignyta, which developed the ROS1 mutant NSCLC treatment Entrectinib and was merged into Roche in 2018 for 1.7 billion USD. Currently, Oric is developing targeted therapies for prostate cancer and other solid tumors.