Korea-based peptide drug developer Nano Intelligence Biomedical Engineering Corporation (NIBEC) saw its shares skyrocket to the upper limit of trading on Thursday morning following news of a major licensing deal worth up to $435 million for its lead fibrosis drug candidate.
NIBEC shares closed at 28,950 won ($21) on Thursday, a 30 percent gain, hitting the daily trading ceiling after the company’s announcement of a global licensing agreement with an undisclosed U.S. pharmaceutical company.
While the identity of the U.S. partner remains confidential due to a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), NIBEC described the company as having “established R&D and commercialization capabilities” in both idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).
The deal covers the worldwide development and commercialization rights for NP-201, a peptide-based investigational therapy targeting fibrotic diseases.
Under the terms of the agreement, NIBEC will receive an upfront payment of $8 million within 30 days of contract execution. The remaining amount will be paid as milestone-based payments tied to development, regulatory, and commercial achievements.
The total deal size amounts to nearly double NIBEC’s current market capitalization of approximately 260 billion won, and dwarfs the company’s 2024 revenue of 24.6 billion won. The contract's upfront payment alone represents 44.6 percent of last year’s total revenue.
In addition to the milestone payments, NIBEC is entitled to receive four percent of net sales as royalty income following commercialization. The licensee is expected to remit milestone-related payments within 60 days of achieving each specified sales threshold.
NP-201 is an experimental fibrosis treatment that promotes tissue regeneration via a novel peptide mechanism distinct from existing therapies. The candidate successfully completed a phase 1a clinical trial in Australia in 2023 and is currently preparing to enter phase 2.
In a statement, NIBEC emphasized that the licensing deal is expected to significantly enhance the global clinical development of NP-201.
“We anticipate that the scale of the partnership could grow further, as we plan to establish a separate manufacturing and supply agreement for NP-201,” a company official said.