Well, it's definitely a big landmark deal for Glenmark as well as for the Indian pharma industry. Glenmark has signed an out-licensing deal with global big pharma company AbbVie for one of their molecules under development for multiple myeloma. They've out-licensed it to AbbVie. It's going to be an upfront payment of $700 million, milestones of $1.22 billion going forward, and even double-digit tiered royalty payments if this molecule is successful and comes to market. We have with us Glenn Saldanha, who's really the man of the moment, to talk to us about this big landmark deal which has taken place. Glenn, thank you very much for joining in. Well, if you could just go through the finer points of this big deal which has taken place for IGI, which is your innovation subsidiary.
Thank you, Eka. So clearly this is a huge moment for us. We've been working on this for 25 years in the innovation space, and I think ISB 2001 really is a world-class asset that can be transformational for patients. From a partnering perspective, the way we've structured it is we've partnered with AbbVie for the US, Canada, Europe, China, Japan, most of the developed markets, and Glenmark will commercialize this product eventually in India and all emerging markets. So the two of us will make sure this asset is successful going forward. IGI clearly is a 100% subsidiary of Glenmark and has done a phenomenal job in developing this asset, getting the phase one data. As you know, we have phenomenal data in patients in the phase one trial, where the recent presentation we made at ASCO, we had almost 79% overall response and almost 30% of the patients had complete remission. And these are patients who have gone through all prior lines of therapy in multiple myeloma and then eventually come on to ISB 2001 and shown this response. So very exciting times. We are super excited about partnering with AbbVie, a great partner with huge global capabilities and huge resources to make ISB 2001 successful and bring it to the market.
Okay. So explain the financials to us. $700 million is what you would get upfront. $1.22 billion in terms of milestones, and the remaining would be royalties.
That's correct. So we get a $700 million payment up front, and as soon as we get regulatory approvals, that money will be received by us. The milestones, the 1.2 plus billion dollars of milestones, are spread into clinical development milestones. So as the molecule progresses through clinics, we keep getting milestones, regulatory milestones. As the molecule gets filed in various markets and approved, we get milestones, and then we get sales-linked milestones. So cumulatively that number comes to $1.25 billion for the asset. And then once it's commercial, we get royalties on sales, which, as you know, some of these innovative products, the life of the royalties is pretty long. So this could pretty much be an annuity if the molecule makes it to market.
Okay. So let's first understand where exactly this molecule stands. Phase 1B currently. Explain that to us. How advanced is this molecule at this point in time?
So ISB 2001 is still at a relatively early stage. The good news is we have patient data in about 40 to 50 patients. We have good clinical data that we presented at ASCO, so very good safety profile, good efficacy data, but it's still early stage, so it has to go through a significant amount of clinical development as we go forward.
Okay, so AbbVie is now going to take over the entire development of this molecule, we understand. When do you think that it will probably hit the market or show any kind of results?
So AbbVie takes over all clinical development from here on. In terms of time frame, I can't give you a specific time frame, but typically molecules, if you look at other assets in the space, they typically take about four to five years at least to get to commercialization.
So say 2030 would be a good target to probably expect something tangible coming in from the molecule, or hitting commercial sales if it is successful, that is.
So again, I can't specifically talk about ISB 2001, but typically it's about four to five years to commercialization.
Okay. Well, let's talk about how you're going to use the funds now. Let's start with $700 million, 6,000 crores of cash on books. It will be on Glenmark's books. Tell us how exactly is the $700 million going to be utilized.
So the way we're looking at it is IGI will continue development of various other assets that they have. They have a great multispecific antibody platform technology which they will continue to exploit. They spend about $70 million a year, so that spend will continue. Clearly a big part of this upfront will be allocated to their spends. The balance, some of it will be paid as a dividend to Glenmark, and the rest will sit as cash on the books.
Okay. Any plans of rewarding the shareholders of Glenmark who waited very patiently for a possible R&D deal?
We'll definitely consider increasing the payouts to shareholders. I think we'll put it up to the board and get that approval.
Okay. Now this $1.2 billion in terms of milestone payments, what is it contingent on? Any kind of milestones that you can share with us, and when can we probably expect them to come through?
I think the milestones are all based on certain meetings, certain events. So specific events like completing a certain phase of clinical development, or regulatory filing, or regulatory approval. So they spread all over. So it's hard to say when these will materialize.
Okay. Now the royalty payments, if the molecule is successful and it comes to market, how long will the royalty payments last for? And typically, what you've seen in terms of molecules, and the size of this particular molecule for multiple myeloma, how much do you think it can probably garner for you?
So the multiple myeloma market today is about $30 billion, estimated to be about $50 billion by 2030 globally. So when you look at the market size, it is very large. In terms of royalty payments, typically some of the novel drugs have a life of at least 15 to 20 years of exclusivity. So the royalty payments can be significant as and when these drugs come to market.
Okay. Well, you've done this deal at a time where there is a lot of challenge when it comes to funding, especially for biotech companies. How challenging was this particular deal in this environment of uncertainty?
Big pharma has always had deep pockets, and given the clinical data that we had and the level of efficacy and safety that ISB 2001 demonstrated, we had a lot of interest around this asset. We're happy that we concluded the deal with AbbVie as a final partner.
