Basilea Pharmaceutica has amended its existing license agreement for Europe, Russia, Turkey and Israel with Pfizer for Basilea’s Cresemba (isavuconazole) to include China—with Hong Kong and Macao—and sixteen countries in the Asia Pacific region. Isavuconazole is an antifungal for the treatment of life-threatening invasive mold infections.

Ronald Scott, chief executive officer, Basilea, said, “Cresemba is a well differentiated drug that addresses a critical medical need in patients with invasive mold infections. We are very pleased to be expanding our partnership with Pfizer to China and Asia Pacific where it has a strong commercial presence and a proven track record of successfully developing and commercializing hospital antifungals. We have now established partnerships for isavuconazole with leading pharmaceutical companies in all major markets around the world.”

“We are excited to extend our partnership with Basilea, a company that shares our passion and commitment to confronting the global challenges of infectious disease management,” said Suneet Varma, global president of Pfizer APAC, Greater China and global brands. “We believe our extensive geographic footprint in APAC and China together with our expertise in successfully commercializing innovative medicines will help enable us to continue to address the unmet medical needs of patients, especially in the area of anti-infectives.”

Basilea will receive an upfront payment of $3 million and is eligible to receive up to approximately $223 million in additional payments upon achievement of regulatory and commercial milestones related to China and the Asia Pacific region. In addition, Basilea will receive royalties in the mid-teen range on Pfizer’s sales in the territory. Pfizer is granted an exclusive license to develop, manufacture and commercialize isavuconazole in China, Hong Kong and Macao, and sixteen countries in the Asia Pacific region, including Australia, India, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan. The agreement is subject to customary regulatory approval.

In June 2017, Basilea signed a license agreement with Pfizer for Europe—excluding the Nordics—Russia, Turkey and Israel. Basilea received a $70 million upfront payment and is eligible for additional milestone payments of up to $427 million and mid-teen royalties on sales.