Adlai Nortye Partners with ASK Pharm in $230 Million Deal for Pan-RAS Inhibitor AN9025 in Greater China
核心洞察
Adlai Nortye has entered an exclusive licensing agreement with ASK Pharm (搜索) for its pan-RAS (搜索) inhibitor AN9025, granting development and commercialization rights in Greater China.
The deal is valued at up to $230 million, including upfront payments exceeding $20 million and tiered royalties from high single-digit to mid-teens percentage of net sales.
AN9025 is an oral small molecule pan-RAS (搜索)(ON) inhibitor with best-in-class potential, targeting multiple RAS mutations across various tumor types including pancreatic, lung, and colorectal cancers.
Adlai Nortye Ltd. (NASDAQ: ANL), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on innovative cancer therapies, announced on December 29, 2025, that it has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with ASK Pharm (搜索) for its proprietary pan-RAS (搜索) (ON) inhibitor AN9025. The partnership grants ASK Pharm exclusive rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize the compound in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macao, while Adlai Nortye retains worldwide rights outside the licensed territory.
Financial Terms and Strategic Value
Under the agreement terms, Adlai Nortye is eligible to receive total consideration of up to RMB 1.6 billion (approximately USD 230 million). The financial structure includes an upfront payment and near-term milestone payments exceeding USD 20 million, plus tiered royalties ranging from a high single-digit to mid-teens percentage of net product sales in the licensed territory.
"This partnership marks a pivotal milestone in our strategic innovation upgrade, signaling our decisive move into frontier innovation with high entry barriers," stated Mr. Jingfei Ma, Director and General Manager of ASK Pharm (搜索). "By leveraging our complementary strengths in R&D, clinical development, and commercialization, we aim to accelerate the development of AN9025 project while reinforcing our existing pipeline, ultimately delivering high-value therapeutic solutions to patients in China and around the world."
AN9025: Targeting RAS-Driven Cancers
AN9025 is an oral small molecule pan-RAS (搜索)(ON) inhibitor with best-in-class potential, designed to target a broad spectrum of RAS mutations across various tumor types. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that AN9025 effectively inhibits RAS-mutant cancers with potent and durable efficacy, including pancreatic, lung, and colorectal adenocarcinomas. The compound shows comparable or superior results relative to a benchmark agent of the same class.
Yang Lu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Adlai Nortye, emphasized the therapeutic potential: "We are delighted to partner with ASK Pharm (搜索) on the development of AN9025, a differentiated pan-RAS (搜索) (ON) inhibitor with the potential to be best-in-class. This collaboration represents a meaningful step forward in advancing the clinical and commercial potential of AN9025 and underscores the value of our RAS-targeted drug discovery platform."
Clinical Development Timeline
The company expects to initiate the phase I clinical study in the first quarter of 2026. The partnership aims to accelerate the delivery of novel treatment options for patients with RAS-mutated cancers (搜索) who continue to face significant unmet medical needs.
Strategic Partnership Rationale
The collaboration combines Adlai Nortye's innovation capabilities with ASK Pharm (搜索)'s strong development and commercialization expertise in Greater China. ASK Pharm, founded in January 2003, is a research-based pharmaceutical enterprise that specializes in digestive disease, multidrug resistant infection, oncology, and chronic disease areas.
ASK Pharm (搜索) currently manages 48 major research projects, including 10 disclosed key projects focused on innovative chemical and biologic drugs. Among these, Limertinib (the 3rd Gen EGFR (搜索) TKI) was launched in 2025, while ASKC109 (maltol iron capsules), ASKB589 (Claudin18.2 (搜索) monoclonal antibody), and ASKC202 (c-MET (搜索) TKI) are in Phase III clinical trials. The company has ranked among the top 20 best industrial enterprises in China's pharmaceutical R&D pipeline for 14 consecutive years.
Broader Pipeline Context
AN9025 represents part of Adlai Nortye's broader RAS (搜索)-targeting strategy. The company's pipeline includes AN4035 (搜索), a CEACAM5 (搜索)-targeting ADC delivering a potent pan-RAS(ON) inhibitor directly to tumors. Additionally, Adlai Nortye is developing next-generation cancer immunotherapies, including AN8025 (a tri-functional fusion protein) and AN4005 (a first-in-class oral small-molecule PD-L1 (搜索) inhibitor).