2024-11-28

TenNor and GLS Group Enter Exclusive Commercial Partnership for New H. pylori Drug Rifasutenizol

SUZHOU, China, Nov. 28, 2024 -- TenNor Therapeutics announced that it has entered an exclusive commercial partnership agreement with Grand Life Sciences (“GLS”) Group for rifasutenizol (TNP-2198) for the treatment of H. pylori infection. Under the agreement, TenNor licenses GLS’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Hangzhou Grand Biologic Pharmaceutical INC. ("Hangzhou Grand"), to exclusively commercialize and promote rifasutenizol in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

 

Pursuant to the agreement, Hangzhou Grand will pay TenNor an upfront payment, commercial milestone payments and sales milestone payments, with a total amount up to 775 million RMB. TenNor, as the marketing authorization holder, will be responsible for further clinical development, registration and other activities related to rifasutenizol, while paying Hangzhou Grand market promotion service fees.

 

“We are pleased to sign this strategic partnership agreement with GLS Group,” said Dr. Zhenkun Ma, Founder and CEO of TenNor Therapeutics, “by leveraging GLS Group’s outstanding marketing capabilities in digestive disease area through this win-win cooperation, we hope to accelerate the commercialization of rifasutenizol, so more H. pylori patients can benefit from this innovative product."

 

"Digestive disease area is one of the key therapeutic focuses of GLS Group,” stated Zenghui Feng, Chairman of GLS Group, “the cooperation with TenNor will enrich our product pipeline and strengthen our leadership position in the field. Through innovation we hope to better serve the unmet medical needs, improve the treatment of H. pylori infection and associated digestive diseases, and eventually benefit millions and millions of patients."

 

H. pylori is a major cause of gastritis, peptic ulcers and gastric cancer. The infection rate in China is approximately 50%, leading to 340,000 new cases of gastric cancer per annum. Both the first white paper on H. pylori prevention and control released by China CDC in 2023 and the sixth Chinese national consensus report on the management of H. pylori infection released in 2022 recommended test-and-treatment for H. pylori infection as a primary strategy for the prevention of gastric cancer. The bismuth-containing quadruple therapy currently recommended by the consensus report is complex and requires individualized regimens based on antibiotic resistance assessment, which has become a bottleneck in implementing large-scale test-and-treatment strategy. Rifasutenizol is a novel multi-targeting drug candidate with a synergistic mechanism of action against anaerobic and microaerophile bacteria. It has potential to become the first new drug developed specifically for H. pylori infection for more than 30 years. The rifasutenizol regimen does not require drug sensitivity test thus can be seamlessly integrated with the urea breath test testing. TenNor has completed a total of seven phase I to III clinical trials in China and has received Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) and Fast Track designations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

 

About TenNor Therapeutics

TenNor Therapeutics is a clinical-stage company specialized in the discovery and development of differentiated new drug products in diseases associated with bacterial infection and metabolism. TenNor possesses a unique multi-targeting drug conjugate technology platform and a strong new drug development pipeline with global IP protection. Several products are currently in late-stage of clinical development targeting H. pylori infection, implanted medical device infections, hepatic encephalopathy and irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea. The company is committed to address the unmet needs in the disease area and provide safe and effective therapies for patients in China and around the world.

For more information, please visit: www.tennorx.com