Swedish clinical-stage pharmaceutical company Vicore Pharma Holding AB (STO:VICO) announced on Friday an exclusive licensing agreement with Japanese pharmaceutical company Nippon Shinyaku Co Ltd, granting rights for the development and commercialisation of Vicore's drug candidate C21 in Japan.

Vicore will receive an upfront payment of USD10m and stands to gain up to USD275m in milestone payments, along with tiered royalty payments.

Nippon Shinyaku will initially focus on developing C21 for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), aiming to address the limited treatment options for approximately 34,000 patients in Japan.

Vicore retains all rights to C21 outside of Japan.

C21, an oral therapy, has shown promising results in stabilising or improving lung function in IPF patients. A global Phase 2b ASPIRE study is planned to begin in the first half of this year.