Lupin Ties Up With German Drugmaker Boehringer To Develop, Market Cancer Drugs

Lupin Ltd. has agreed to develop and commercialise a drug to treat gastrointestinal and lung cancers with the German pharmaceutical firm Boehringer lngelheim GmbH for which it would be paid $70 million upfront.

The Indian company informed the exchanges today it would combine its MEK inhibitor compound with Boehringer Ingelheim's KRAS inhibitor to develop the drug. That comes less than a year after Lupin agreed to develop an oncology drug to treat hematological cancers with U.S. pharma firm Abbvie Inc.

KRAS is a term used to describe a gene, muted forms of which can be present in certain types of cancer. KRAS mutations occur in one in seven of all human metastatic cancers making it the most frequently mutated cancer-causing gene, according to the filing. The MEK inhibitor, Lupin said, prevents mitogen-activated protein enzymes from acting and prevents further spread of cancer cells.

Lupin may receive potential additional payments for a total deal value of more than $700 million subject to achieving milestones in drug development. The Mumbai-based company, according to the filing, would receive double-digit royalties on drug sales.

“Lupin will not spend any further on research and development for the programme as the responsibility has shifted to Boehringer lngelheim,” Dr Raj Kamboj, president (novel drug discovery and development) at Lupin, told BloombergQuint in an interview.

Watch the interaction here:

Essential Business Intelligence, Continuous LIVE TV, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.