March 23 (Reuters) - Kali Therapeutics said on Monday it

has entered into a licensing agreement with French drugmaker

Sanofi to develop the privately held firm's

experimental treatment for several autoimmune diseases.

Here are the details:

* Under the deal, Sanofi will obtain global rights to KT501,

a tri-specific antibody utilizing Kali Therapeutics' proprietary

discovery and research platform.

* Kali Therapeutics will receive $180 million in upfront and

near-term payments and is eligible for up to $1.05 billion in

development and commercial milestone payments.

* If the drug is approved, the company will also receive

tiered royalties on product sales ranging from the high-single

digits to double digits.

* KT501 is currently being tested in an early-stage study in

rheumatoid arthritis patients to assess its safety and how well

the drug was tolerated.

* Studies in non-human primatesshowed KT501 strongly

reduced a type of white blood cells called B cell, while

limiting harmful immune reactions that can happen with some

similar treatments, Kali said.

* The drug developer, which focuses on next-generation

biologics, said KT501 is designed to target and modulate immune

cells that trigger autoimmune disorders, a category that

includes conditions such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

* Sanofi already markets Kevzara, an approved rheumatoid

arthritis drug developed with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals ( REGN )

, and is also advancing new anti-inflammatory

candidates.

(Reporting by Siddhi Mahatole and Kunal Das in Bengaluru)