INSILICO (03696) saw its shares climb nearly 5% during the morning trading session. At the time of writing, the stock was up 3.68%, trading at HK$55, with a turnover of HK$21.52 million. The surge follows a recent company announcement of a co-development and collaboration agreement with Hengtai Biotech for the ISM8969 project. Leveraging this exclusive strategic partnership, the two entities will jointly accelerate the global development of ISM8969, a novel, oral NLRP3 inhibitor with blood-brain barrier penetration properties, intended for the treatment of central nervous system diseases. Under the agreement's terms, INSILICO will grant Hengtai Biotech 50% of the rights for the research, development, registration, production, and commercialization of ISM8969 worldwide. Concurrently, INSILICO is entitled to receive over HK$500 million in upfront and milestone payments, which includes an upfront payment of HK$78 million expected to be paid within 30 days of the agreement's effective date.