LianBio, a Princeton-Shanghai company, will collaborate with MyoKardia (NSDQ: MYOK) to develop and commercialize MyoKardia's cardiovascular drug, mavacamten, in China and other Asian territories. The agreement has an announced value of $187.5 million. MyoKardia will receive an equity stake in Lian Cardiovascular, and Tassos Gianakakos, MyoKardia’s CEO, will be appointed to LianBio’s Board of Directors. LianBio, which announced its launch today together with in-licensings from MyoKardia and BridgeBio, will fund all development and commercial expenses for mavacamtem in the China/Asia countries.

LianBio was launched today with simultaneous announcements of its two initial agreements for China rights to three candidates, one from MyoKardia and two from BridgeBio. Perceptive Advisors, which has invested in MyoKardia and BridgeBio, is also the major supporter of LianBio (see story). LianBio is led by a seasoned executive team with deep regional experience, including Bing Li, CEO and Debra Yu, President and CBO.

MyoKardia will receive a payment of $40 million at closing, with other undisclosed payments in the first six months of the partnership. MyoKardia will be eligible to receive regulatory and sales milestones of up to $147.5 million, plus tiered double-digit royalties.

The partnership is structured to enable MyoKardia to retain certain key decision-making input over the mavacamten program in the China/Asia territory. The two companies plan to combine their expertise as they advance the drug toward regulatory approvals.

Mavacamten is MyoKardia’s lead therapeutic candidate. It is being developed to treat patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), and in heart failure patients with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). The partnership will initially seek regulatory approval of mavacamten in China for obstructive HCM, with plans for additional indications to follow.

“Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is estimated to affect more than one million people in China alone, yet there are limited treatment options and none that targets the pathophysiology of disease,” said Bing Li, LianBio’s CEO. “Mavacamten’s mechanism is directed to the hypercontractility that drives HCM, and we have been impressed by its consistent and encouraging clinical data.”

Mavacamten will anchor the portfolio for LianBio’s cardiorenal-focused subsidiary, Lian Cardiovascular, which has assembled a strong team across development, regulatory and other key functions. These include Jing Ji, who previously served as Vice President and Head of Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolic TA for AstraZeneca China.

“The partnership with LianBio is consistent with MyoKardia’s strategy of adding capabilities to extend our efforts to bring precision cardiovascular therapeutics to patients in need while maintaining both significant influence on our global brand and economic rights,” said Jake Bauer, MyoKardia’s Chief Business Officer.

“The LianBio leadership team brings an in-depth understanding of local market dynamics and successful track record for regional drug development, as well as a shared commitment to accelerating the availability of mavacamten in China and other territories. The combination of proven know-how and impassioned drive to bring innovative targeted treatments to patients make them an ideal partner,” he added.

“We have structured LianBio with the intent of greatly expanding our partner’s ability to succeed as we work together to bring exciting new therapeutics to patients in need,” added Konstantin Poukalov, LianBio’s Executive Chairman and Managing Director of Perceptive Advisors. “The collaboration with MyoKardia to bring a first-in-class targeted therapeutic with the potential to be a game-changer for cardiovascular patients exemplifies our aim for Lian Cardiovascular.”

Mavacamten, a first-in-class, oral, allosteric modulator of cardiac myosin, is aimed at treating conditions in which excessive cardiac contractility and impaired diastolic filling of the heart are the underlying cause. Mavacamten reduces cardiac muscle contractility by inhibiting excessive myosin-actin cross-bridge formation. The formation results in hypercontractility, left ventricular hypertrophy and reduced compliance. In clinical and preclinical studies, mavacamten has consistently reduced biomarkers of cardiac wall stress, lessened excessive cardiac contractility and increased diastolic compliance.

Yesterday, MyoKardia announced it will release data from its Phase III trial of mavacamten for HCM on August 29 at a European scientific meeting.

MyoKardia plans to submit a US NDA for mavacamten as a treatment for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in the first quarter of 2021. Based on its mechanism of action and evidence of therapeutic activity, mavacamten is also in clinical studies to treat symptomatic non-obstructive HCM, and the company plans to conduct future studies among a targeted population of patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).

See our other articles on LianBio and BridgeBio.

Disclosure: none.