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Recently, the Frontier Biopharmaceuticals (Nanjing) Co., Ltd., located in Jiangning High-tech Zone of Nanjing, issued an announcement stating that it has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with the global biopharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), granting GSK the global exclusive rights for the development, production and commercialization of the company’s two small nucleic acid (siRNA) pipeline products. The total transaction amount could reach up to 1.003 billion US dollars. At the same time, Frontier Biopharmaceuticals will enjoy a tiered royalty fee based on global net sales.
The announcement indicates that among the two products authorized this time, one has entered the New Drug Clinical Trial Application (IND) stage, and the other is a preclinical candidate drug. According to the agreement, Frontier Biopharma will receive a $40 million upfront payment and a $13 million milestone payment in the near future, totaling $53 million. Additionally, Frontier Biopharma will have the opportunity to receive up to $950 million in cumulative development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments for the two projects, and will also enjoy a tiered royalty on the global net sales of the two products. Frontier Biopharma will be responsible for the early development of the two investigational products. GlaxoSmithKline will be responsible for all subsequent global clinical development, regulatory filing and commercialization activities for the two products.
Dr. Xie Dong, the chairman and CEO of Frontier Biotech, said: “We are very excited to have reached this cooperation with GlaxoSmithKline, a global biopharmaceutical company. This reflects the industry’s recognition of our research capabilities. The company will lay a solid foundation for its development by deepening international cooperation, accelerating the value transformation of its pipeline, and potentially achieving commercialization.”
Frontier Biotechnology is a research-driven innovative drug company in our city. It was listed on the SciTech Exchange in October 2020. Before and during its initial public offering, Frontier Biotechnology mainly focused on the research and development of new drugs in the field of long-acting peptides. Its core product was the anti-HIV innovative drug “Aibovate”. Starting from 2024, Frontier Biotechnology will focus on building a product pipeline of small nucleic acid drugs. Small nucleic acid drugs are an important development direction in the global pharmaceutical field in recent years. Due to their high specificity, long-lasting efficacy, and low risk of developing drug resistance, they have attracted a large number of pharmaceutical companies from around the world to enter this field. By the end of 2025, more than 20 small nucleic acid drugs have been approved for market launch globally, with their indications extending from genetic rare diseases to chronic diseases such as high cholesterol, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and metabolic-related fatty liver disease. Currently, all the approved small nucleic acid drugs on the market are from multinational pharmaceutical companies, and the catching-up momentum of local enterprises is obvious.
