UT Health San Antonio has entered into a licensing agreement with a Chinese pharmaceutical company that translates into millions of dollars. It’s the most financially significant deal of its kind in the university’s history.
In a lab at UT Health San Antonio, scientists are working on new therapies for devastating medical conditions -- specifically spinal cord injuries and breast cancer that has spread to the bone.
Now, that promising research is going global. The university signed two licensing agreements with CSPS Pharmaceutical Group, one of the top therapeutic brands in China. A subsidiary, AlaMab Therapeutics, will locate in San Antonio, building on biologic therapies targeting these bone-related health issues.
"These biologics will be developed into novel, first in class therapies," explained UT Health San Antonio President William Henrich, MD. "Should these agents prove successful, then the prospect of mitigating or even curing these debilitating conditions becomes possible."
UT Regent Board Member Rad Weaver says discoveries made in labs here are grabbing national and international attention. "The UT System ranks eighth in patents issued in 2016," Weaver said. "Of the 162 patents granted last year, ten were here at UT Health San Antonio."
Bioscience start-up AlaMab Therapeutics is paying an initial $4.5 million to license these new technologies. If the biologic therapies are approved for sale and marketed, UT Health could earn up to $114 million.
