Cooley advised Arena Pharmaceuticals on a development and commercialization partnership with Everest Medicines for two product candidates in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and South Korea.

The product candidates are ralinepag – for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension – and etrasimod, which is being evaluated for multiple autoimmune diseases, including ulcerative colitis, a form of inflammatory bowel disease. C-Bridge Capital has invested $50 million to fund Everest and has assembled a veteran team to rapidly advance product candidates towards approval and launch.

“We are very pleased to establish a partnership with Everest and C-Bridge Capital around two of our potential best-in-class product candidates,” said Amit D. Munshi, president and CEO of Arena, in a news release. “With new regulations in place in China to expedite approvals, a significant opportunity for ralinepag and etrasimod exists in early synchronization of development programs.”

Arena, which trades on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "ARNA," is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel, small molecule drugs across a range of therapeutic areas.

Cooley partner Kay Chandler and special counsel Rena Kaminsky lead the team advising Arena.

Cooley previously advised Arena on its amended agreement with Eisai, a Japanese pharmaceutical company, in early 2017.