The HLB Group is accelerating its entry into the European market for Rivoceranib by narrowing down its European partner candidates.

HLB is to attend the European Society for Medical Oncology Annual Meeting (ESMO 2023) in Madrid, Spain, for five days from Oct. 20 to 24, operating its own booth with its U.S. subsidiary, Elevar Therapeutics.

It is narrowing down a shortlist of companies to discuss partnerships in Europe, meeting with them at ESMO to discuss strategies for European licensure and distribution. However, there is still room for further discussions with companies outside of the shortlist, according to HLB.

In May, the company filed a marketing authorization application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its targeted cancer drug Rivoceranib as the first-line treatment of liver cancer, announcing plans to build a U.S. sales network and enter the European market through a partner.

Also attending ESMO 2023 will be Eleva's Chief Commercial Officer, Paul Friel. He recently participated in the Cantor Fitzgerald Global Healthcare Conference 2023 in New York as an invited speaker on cancer biotechnology.

On Monday, HLB also said that its Chinese partner, Hangseo Pharmaceutical, and Elevar have signed a technology transfer agreement for the global rights (excluding Korea and China) of Camrelizumab, another immuno-oncology drug for treating liver cancer.

With this agreement, HLB and Elevar have secured global rights to the combination drug that follows Rivoceranib.

Under the agreement, Hangseo will receive royalties of up to $1 billion (about 1.35 trillion won) based on sales in liver cancer for 10 years following the launch of Camrelizumab.

HLB said the decision was based on the belief that it would be beneficial for Elevar to handle the entire commercialization process, including marketing and sales, for the two drugs, which should be prescribed together after approval.