Daewoong Pharmaceutical inks $430 million license-out deal for gastroesophageal drug

South Korean drugmaker Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co. inked a US$430 million deal to provide US pharmaceutical venture firm Neurogastrx Inc. with its technology for fexuprazan, the novel drug candidate for gastroesophageal reflux.

The technology deal with Neurogastrx made the US the fourth country that the South Korean firm has signed technology deals with, after China, Brazil, and Mexico.

The said countries account for almost 40 percent of the global gastrointestinal disorder market.

The combined value of the deals is already over 1 trillion won.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical will also receive 13.5 percent of Neurogastrx's shares.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical claims that fexuprazan, a class of potassium-competitive acid blockers, exhibited a cure rate of 99 percent during the phase three clinical trials and is expected to win approval from local drug authorities soon.

Neurogastrx is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company that develops therapies for gastrointestinal disorders.