Everest Medicines announced that it has acquired an exclusive license with Visara, Inc. (Visara), a subsidiary of NovaBridge Biosciences (formally known as I-Mab, and is a company listed on the Nasdaq Global Market trading under the symbol “NBP”), to secure an exclusive license to develop, manufacture and commercialize VIS-101, in Greater China, Singapore, South Korea and certain Southeast Asian countries.
This collaboration marks Everest’s strategic expansion into ophthalmology, a high-potential “blue-ocean” therapeutic area, further enriching its late-stage product pipeline and strengthening synergies across its core therapeutic portfolio.
Under the assigned exclusive license, Everest Medicines will make an upfront payment of $7 million (approximately RMB49.7 million) and reimburse up to RMB24.0 million for prior expenses; pay up to $89.0 million (approximately RMB632.0 million) in potential milestones; and pay tied royalties on net sales.
“We are pleased to collaborate with Visara. This partnership brings a highly differentiated and commercially attractive asset to Everest’s late-stage product pipeline and marks our entry into ophthalmology, a competitively attractive therapeutic area with significant unmet medical needs,” said Rogers Yongqing Luo, Chief Executive Officer of Everest Medicines. “Leveraging Everest’s clinical development and commercialisation expertise, we look forward to advancing VIS-101, a potential best-in-class bifunctional antibody, towards commercialisation in China and across Asia.”
VIS-101 is a novel bifunctional biologic targeting VEGF-A and ANG-2 that is more potent and could potentially provide more durable treatment benefits than existing treatments for patients with wet age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular oedema, and retinal vein occlusion. VIS-101 has completed initial safety and dose-escalation studies in both the United States and China and is currently conducting a randomised, dose-ranging Phase 2 study in China. VIS-101 is anticipated to be Phase 3-ready in 2026.
