The shares of Glenmark Pharma jumped 10 percent to hit the upper circuit in the early trading hours of July 11. This comes after the company announced that its subsidiary has signed an exclusive global licensing agreement for its investigational asset ISB 2001 with New York-based AbbVie.

In an exchange filing released in the post market hours of July 10, Glenmark announced that its step-down wholly-owned subsidiary, Ichnos Glenmark Innovation (IGI), has signed the agreement with AbbVie. ISB 2001 is currently in the first phase of clinical trials for patients suffering from relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, a type of cancer, the company said in an exchange filing.

As part of the deal, AbbVie will get the exclusive right to develop, manufacture, and commercialise ISB 2001 across North America, Europe, Japan, and China. Glenmark will meanwhile develop, manufacture and lead commercialization of ISB 2001 across Emerging Markets including the rest of Asia, Latin America, the Russia/CIS region, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea.

Glenmark's subsidiary will get an upfront payment of $700 million, and will be eligible to receive up to $1.225 billion in development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments, along with tiered, double-digit royalties on net sales, as part of the deal. The pact was signed by IGI Therapeutics SA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ichnos Glenmark Innovation, Inc., which is a subsidiary of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals.

The US Food and Drug Administration had granted ISB 2001 orphan drug designation in July 2003 and fast-track designation in May for the treatment of relapsed or refractory myeloma patients.

“Multispecifics including trispecific antibodies represent a new frontier in immuno-oncology with the potential to deliver deeper, more durable responses by engaging multiple targets simultaneously,” said Roopal Thakkar, M.D., Executive Vice-President, Research and Development and Chief Scientific Officer, AbbVie. “This partnership with IGI reflects our unwavering commitment to advancing novel therapies for patients with multiple myeloma, a disease where significant unmet need remains despite recent progress,” Thakkar added.

“ISB 2001 exemplifies the potential of our BEAT® protein platform to generate effective multispecificsTM that may overcome resistance and improve outcomes in hard-to-treat cancers,” said Cyril Konto, M.D., President and CEO of IGI. "This agreement marks a defining milestone in IGI’s scientific journey and reflects our team’s deep commitment to delivering meaningful therapies for patients. Our partnership with AbbVie accelerates ISB 2001’s path to patients and sharpens our focus on advancing the next generation of BEAT®-enabled assets in oncology.”

Glenmark Pharma shares have so far gained over 14 percent in the past five days, and more than 28 percent in the past one month. The stock gained nearly 40 percent in the past six months, and over 51 percent in the past one year.

Nomura has kept a ''neutral' call on the stock, with a target price of Rs 1,500 per share. This implies a downside potential of more than 21 percent from the stock’s previous closing price of Rs 1,904 apiece. The brokerage said that the licensing deal is the largest by any Indian pharma company. The deal value has also beat its expectations.