Yuhan Corp. said it received 11.8 billion won ($9.97 million) of milestone payment as its non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) therapy licensed out to Boehringer Ingelheim entered the global phase 1 trial.

Boehringer Ingelheim has paid Yuhan a total of $50 million as milestone payments since it signed the agreement two years ago.

Yuhan said Wednesday that Boehringer Ingelheim has begun the phase 1 clinical trial of YH25724, a new drug candidate for NASH and liver disease in Europe.

The phase 1 study evaluates the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetic properties of 80 overweight male subjects by administering a single dose of YH25724. The company plans to complete the study by June 2022.

In July 2019, Yuhan granted the rights for developing and marketing YH25724 to Boehringer Ingelheim and signed a deal worth $870 million. In addition to the down payment of $40 million, the company also secured the right to receive milestone payments according to the development and commercialization stages.

Yuhan will receive a separate milestone payment of $10 million from Boehringer Ingelheim when the first patient gets the YH25724 injection in phase 1 clinical trial of YH25724. The company also received a $10 million down payment when the latter finished the non-clinical toxicity study in nine months.

Yuhan earned a $50 million profit as Boehringer Ingelheim continued making progress in clinical studies over the past two years. The company expects YH25724 to be developed into a global new drug for NASH as a dual agonist.

According to the preclinical studies conducted by Yuhan, YH25724 showed excellent drug efficacy in reducing cell damage and inflammation in the liver through the anti-fibrotic effect and relieving steatohepatitis with GLP-1 and FGF21.

“Starting with the first administration in patients, we will begin a full-scale clinical study and step closer to developing a novel treatment for NASH patients,” a Yuhan official said. “