Amgen to Buy Stake in Chinese Cancer-Drugmaker BeiGene -- Update
October 31 2019 - 6:10PM
Dow Jones News
By Allison Prang and Jared S. Hopkins
U.S. pharmaceutical company Amgen Inc. said it is buying a
roughly 20% stake in a Chinese biotechnology company for $2.7
billion in cash, further demonstrating China's emergence as a key
market for foreign pharmaceutical companies.
Amgen said BeiGene Ltd., a Beijing-based company focused on
oncology, is going to commercialize certain Amgen treatments in
China and will split those earnings or losses.
BeiGene is going to take three different Amgen products to
market: Xgeva, a prescription bone treatment; Kyprolis, a treatment
for myeloma; and Blincyto, a leukemia treatment. BeiGene will
ultimately be able retain the rights to one those treatments and
earn royalties on the others for an additional five years after the
commercialization period, Amgen said.
Amgen said Xgeva was introduced in China last month and the
other two treatments are in Phase III trials.
BeiGene is also going to work with Amgen on 20 of Amgen's
oncology medicines. Amgen said that BeiGene will contribute as much
as $1.25 billion for developing those treatments. It will also help
cover expenses for research and development, Amgen said.
Amgen expects the deal to close early next year.
China has increasingly been approving foreign drugs, following a
series of policy moves by China to provide its mammoth population
to new treatments, particularly those that treat cancer.
Merck & Co. earlier this week reported that sales grew by
90% in China during the third-quarter. AstraZeneca Chief Executive
Pascal Soriot said last year that he expected China to eventually
overtake Europe as the company's second-largest market. The merger
of Pfizer Inc.'s off-patent drug business, Upjohn, with Mylan NV
offered Mylan expanded geographic reach in China where Upjohn has a
strong presence.
Write to Allison Prang at allison.prang@wsj.com and Jared S.
Hopkins at jared.hopkins@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 31, 2019 17:55 ET (21:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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