Ensol Biosciences announced that it has signed a licensing agreement with U.S.-based Spine Biopharma, Inc. to expand the indications of its degenerative disc disease treatment, P2K (Peniel2000).

Ensol Biosciences originally licensed P2K to Yuhan Corporation in 2009, which then transferred the technology to Spine Biopharma in July 2018 for treating degenerative disc disease. The new agreement, directly between Ensol Biosciences and Spine Biopharma, extends the scope of P2K's indications at the request of Spine Biopharma.

Under the terms of the agreement, Ensol Biosciences will receive a non-refundable upfront payment of $5 million (approximately KRW 7 billion) and milestone payments totaling $150 million (approximately KRW 208.4 billion) based on the achievement of development and sales milestones. Additionally, the company will receive royalties on net sales of P2K-related products in the U.S. for 10 years after their commercialization.

Through this new deal, in addition to the previous licensing agreement with Yuhan Corporation, Ensol Biosciences is expected to secure additional revenues from the expanded indications for P2K.

P2K is currently in the final stages of a phase 3 clinical trial in the U.S., involving 400 patients with lumbar degenerative disc disease (Study SB-01 MODEL). With the expanded indications, P2K is expected to be developed for various conditions, including osteoarthritis, fibrosis, and tumors, further increasing global market opportunities.

The CEO of Ensol Biosciences emphasized that this licensing expansion underscores the high likelihood of success for the ongoing phase 3 trial and marks an important milestone in strengthening the company's potential global market presence.