Dec 9 (Reuters) – Pfizer said on Tuesday it entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with YaoPharma, a subsidiary of China’s Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical, to develop and commercialize an experimental weight-management treatment.
The therapy YP05002 is part of the GLP-1 agonist class of drugs and is currently in early-stage development.
Under the terms of the agreement, YaoPharma will complete the ongoing clinical trial and grant Pfizer an exclusive license to further develop, manufacture and commercialize YP05002 worldwide.
YaoPharma will receive an upfront payment of $150 million and could earn up to $1.94 billion in milestone payments, along with tiered royalties on sales if the drug is approved.
Last month Pfizer closed its up to $10 billion acquisition of Metsera, gaining a foothold in the fast-growing obesity market following a fierce bidding war with Novo Nordisk.
Pfizer had discontinued two oral GLP-1 candidates – lotiglipron in 2023 and danuglipron in 2025 – due to liver safety concerns, leaving it without a viable in-house obesity drug.
(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Vijay Kishore)
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