TLC and 3SBio Form Exclusive Partnership to Commercialize Two NanoX™ Products in Mainland China

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., TAIWAN, SHEN YANG, China and HONG KONG, March 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Taiwan Liposome Company, Ltd. (“TLC”)(Nasdaq: TLC, TWO: 4152), a clinical-stage specialty pharmaceutical company dedicated to the development and commercialization of novel nanomedicines designed to target areas of unmet medical need in osteoarthritis, pain management, ophthalmology and oncology, and 3SBio Inc. ("3SBio")(HKEX: 1530), a leading Chinese biopharmaceutical company specializing in oncology, nephrology, auto immune diseases, metabolic disorders and dermatology, today announced an exclusive partnership to commercialize in mainland China two liposomal products utilizing TLC’s proprietary NanoX™ technology platform. Under this alliance, TLC and 3SBio will cooperate to obtain regulatory approvals in mainland China, TLC will utilize its commercial-scale manufacturing capabilities to supply the two liposome products for 3SBio to commercialize in mainland China. The two companies also agreed to further collaborations in researching and developing other novel liposomal products in the therapeutic areas of osteoarthritis, pain management, ophthalmology, and oncology.

“3SBio’s partnership with TLC reflects the continuous execution of our strategy to introduce novel therapeutics which address significant unmet medical needs of cancer patients in China,” said Dr. Jing Lou, Chief Executive Officer of 3SBio. He added “We intend to seek regulatory approval for the two liposomal products for the treatment of cancers and severe infectious diseases in the near future. We believe both candidates have strong commercial potential due to the lower toxicity profile of TLC’s liposomal formulations and will complement 3SBio’s oncology therapeutic and supportive care portfolio while leveraging 3SBio’s commercial platform with over 2,500 sales and marketing professionals across China.”

Under the terms of the agreement, TLC is eligible to receive up to US$25 million in upfront payments for each product and subsequent regulatory and sales milestone payments.  TLC is also eligible a share of the potential profits from product sales. Additional financial terms were not disclosed.

“We are excited to have 3SBio as a partner to collaborate on the advancement of our NanoX technology-based products,” commented TLC President George Yeh. “This opportunity is an endorsement to the competency of our NanoX platform, which was applied to products that have been approved for sale in Taiwan. With this partnership, we are able to take full advantage of NanoX’s manufacturing capabilities to expand our commercial framework. We believe that 3SBio’s prominent position in China’s biotech industry, coupled with the commercial capacities at our contract manufacturing organizations’ facilities in Australia and Taiwan, will lead to the successful launch and commercialization of these products in mainland China.”

About TLC

TLC (Nasdaq: TLC, TWO: 4152) is a clinical-stage specialty pharmaceutical company dedicated to the research and development of novel nanomedicines that maximize the potential of its proprietary lipid-assembled drug delivery platform (LipAD™). TLC believes that its deep experience with liposome science allows TLC to combine onset speed and benefit duration, and improve active drug concentrations while decreasing unwanted systemic exposures. TLC’s BioSeizer^® technology is designed to enable local sustained release of therapeutic agents at the site of disease or injury; its NanoX™ active drug loading technology is designed to alter the systemic exposure of the drug, potentially reducing dosing frequency and enhancing distribution of liposome-encapsulated active agents to the desired site. These technologies are versatile in the choice of active pharmaceutical ingredients and scalable with respect to manufacturing. TLC has a diverse, wholly owned portfolio of therapeutics that target areas of unmet medical need in pain management, ophthalmology, and oncology. TLC is consistently ranked in the top 5% among all listed companies in Taiwan’s Corporate Governance Evaluations. 

About 3SBio

3SBio is a fully-integrated biotechnology company in China with market-leading biopharmaceutical franchises in oncology, auto-immune diseases, nephrology, metabolic diseases and dermatology. 3SBio is focusing on building an innovative product pipeline, currently with over 30 product candidates under development. 3SBio's manufacturing capabilities include recombinant proteins, monoclonal antibodies and chemically-synthesized molecules, with production centers in Shenyang, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shenzhen and Cuomo, Italy. Please visit for additional information.

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, without limitation, statements regarding TLC’s expectations regarding the development and commercialization of products utilizing its NanoX technology platform. Words such as “may,” “believe,” “will,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend” and similar expressions (as well as other words or expressions referencing future events, conditions or circumstances) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks, assumptions, uncertainties and factors, including risks that the outcome of any clinical trial is inherently uncertain and product candidates may prove to be unsafe or ineffective, or may not achieve commercial approval.  Other risks are described in the Risk Factors section of TLC’s prospectus dated November 21, 2018 filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(4) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements are based on TLC’s expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release. Actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, TLC expressly disclaims any responsibility to update any forward-looking statement contained herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.