Shanghai Jeyou Pharmaceutical Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Jeyou Pharmaceutical”) has entered into an exclusive collaboration agreement with ORION CORPORATION (hereinafter referred to as “ORION”): ORION will obtain the rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize Jeyou Pharmaceutical’s proprietary non-opioid analgesic (JMKX000623) outside the Greater China region, while Jeyou Pharmaceutical will retain all relevant rights to the drug within the Greater China region.

Under the agreement, ORION will pay Jeyou Pharma an upfront payment of €15 million and will pay corresponding development and commercialization milestone payments upon achieving the milestones specified in the agreement, with the total milestone payments amounting to a substantial sum. In addition, Jeyou Pharma will receive a royalty of 8% to 15% of net sales of the collaborative product in the collaboration territory during the commercialization phase.

JMKX000623 is a highly selective sodium channel blocker independently developed by Jeyou Pharma. By blocking the influx of sodium ions, it prevents the generation and transmission of pain signals. It has demonstrated significant analgesic effects in multiple preclinical animal pain models and can reduce the dosage of opioid analgesics; JMKX000623 is expected to be developed for both acute and chronic pain indications; simultaneously, due to its high selectivity, it can reduce the various adverse reactions associated with currently marketed analgesics. On March 12, 2022, its Investigational New Drug (IND) application was approved by the Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) of the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) of China.

Professor Outi Vaarala, M.D., Ph.D., Vice President of Research and Development at ORION, stated: “We are delighted to enter into this collaboration with Jeyou Pharma and look forward to advancing this product into clinical trials this year. Pain is one of the most common reasons for seeking medical care, imposing a significant societal burden on healthcare resources and productivity. There is a substantial unmet clinical need for innovative, non-addictive treatment options with improved efficacy and safety. The NaV1.8 channel is a known pathway for pain transmission and represents a promising target for the development of novel pain treatments.”

A senior executive at Jeyou Pharma stated: “JMKX000623 is a highly active and highly selective Nav1.8 inhibitor independently developed by Jeyou Pharma. We are pleased to partner with ORION, which possesses extensive development experience in the fields of neurology and analgesia. We look forward to working closely with them to advance JMKX000623 into clinical trials and bring benefits to patients worldwide.”