TiumBio said on Tuesday that it received a $4.5 million upfront payment from China’s Hansoh Pharmaceutical under the previous licensing agreement involving TU2670, a new endometriosis treatment.

Earlier in August, TiumBio and Hansoh signed a $170 million deal, including a $4.5 million upfront payment, for the exclusive license to develop and commercialize TU2670 within China.

“We recently completed tech transfer of TU2970, which met the condition for the short-term milestone of $1.5 million that we expect to receive early next year,” an official at TiumBio said.

“The Chinese drugmaker plans to apply for a clinical trial of TU2670 next year. With Hansoh Pharmaceutical’s extensive experience of clinical development and commercialization, it will be able to release the new drug early in China.”

Separately, TiumBio is conducting a phase 2a trial of TU2670 in 80 patients in five countries in Europe.

The official said the company achieved about 60 percent of the patient enrollment goal and the trial was progressing smoothly.

“We are discussing additional licensing deals with multiple pharmaceutical firms in North America and Europe. Once we complete the phase 2a trial in Europe, the value of a licensing deal will go up,” he said.

According to TiumBio, TU2670 is an oral GnRH (Gonadotropin-releasing hormone) antagonist. The company expects the investigational drug to suppress GnRH stably with less dose than AbbVie’s Orilissa (elagolix) and improve medication convenience (once daily).

In 2019, TiumBio licensed out TU2670 to Daewon Pharmaceutical, and Daewon is conducting a local phase 2 study to treat uterine fibroids.