Aligos Therapeutics (Nasdaq: ALGS) has entered an exclusive license agreement with Xiamen Amoytop Biotech Co., Ltd. The deal focuses on Aligos's pevifoscorvir sodium, an oral small molecule capsid assembly modulator in Phase II development for chronic hepatitis B virus infection.
Under the deal, Amoytop gains exclusive rights to develop and commercialize the compound across Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. Aligos retains all rights in the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea, and other markets, and also retains the right to run clinical trials in Greater China independently. Aligos will receive a USD 25 million upfront payment and is eligible for up to USD 420 million in clinical, regulatory, and commercial sales milestones, plus tiered high single-digit royalties on net sales. Amoytop will fund its own development program within the licensed territory. The transaction closes upon Amoytop shareholder approval, anticipated within 30 days of the April 16 announcement.
Deal context
Pevifoscorvir sodium, formerly known as ALG-000184, originated from intellectual property licensed from the laboratory of Dr. Raymond Schinazi at Emory University and was further optimized by Aligos. The company describes it as a capsid assembly modulator of the "E" class, or CAM-E, a mechanistic designation referring to compounds that misdirect HBV capsid protein assembly, producing structurally aberrant core particles that cannot package viral pregenomic RNA. According to Aligos' press materials, the compound acts through dual mechanisms: blocking HBV DNA replication and integration, and reducing the covalently closed circular DNA, or cccDNA, reservoir — the nuclear form of the viral genome that persists in infected hepatocytes and underlies chronic infection.