AstraZeneca paid $200 million upfront to China’s Sino Biopharmaceutical for ex‑China rights to TQC3721, a late‑phase PDE3/4 inhibitor COPD candidate that challenges Merck’s Ohtuvayre; total deal value could reach $1.9 billion in milestones.
TQC3721, developed via Sino’s Chia Tai Tianqing, has a nebulized formulation in phase 3 in China and a dry‑powder inhaler in phase 2; mid‑stage data show up to 147 mL FEV1 improvement at week 4, beating Ohtuvayre’s 124 mL improvement in prior phase 2.
Merck’s Ohtuvayre, acquired with Verona Pharma for $10 billion, set the PDE3/4 class benchmark and posted $131 million in Q1 revenue; AstraZeneca now backs TQC3721 as a potential best‑in‑class COPD asset and broader pipeline addition.
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