2nd Jan 2025 10:46
(Alliance News) - Hutchmed (China) Ltd on Thursday said it has agreed to divest a 45% stake in Shanghai Hutchison Pharmaceuticals Ltd to GP Health Service Capital Co Ltd and Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Holding Co Ltd, for a total of around USD608 million.
Hutchmed is a Hong Kong-based biopharmaceutical firm, while SHPL is an evenly split joint venture between Hutchmed and Shanghai Pharma. SHPL has returned more than USD370 million in dividends to Hutchmed since the venture's establishment in 2001.
GP Health Services Capital will acquire 35% of the business, while Shanghai Pharma has agreed to acquire 10%.
Following the deal completion, expected in its first quarter, Hutchmed will be left with a 5% holding and a pretax gain on disposal of around USD477 million.
Hutchmed Chief Executive Officer Weiguo Su said: "We continue to invest in our prolific in-house [research and development] platform, including our new ATTC programs that we believe have significant potential impact on the treatment of cancers. This divestment brings us additional resources and further focus."
Completion of the sale is dependent on shareholder approval at an extraordinary general meeting, for which Hutchmed expects to release a circular in due course.
Hutchmed also on Thursday said a new drug application has been accepted with priority review status in China for the combination of drugs Orpathys and Tagrisso. The two treatments are used in the care of patients with locally advanced or metastatic epidermal growth factor receptor mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer.
"This acceptance also triggers a milestone payment from AstraZeneca," Hutchmed noted, though it did not on Thursday specify the monetary amount.
"This marks the first regulatory filing for the Orpathys and Tagrisso combination," said Hutchmed Chief Medical Officer and Head of Research & Development Michael Shi. "We and our partner AstraZeneca have been exploring this combination globally, through an array of late-stage clinical trials including the Tatton, Savannah, Saffron and Orchard studies, and we hope to bring this all-oral, chemotherapy-free treatment option to patients with MET-driven lung cancer in the near future."
Shares in Hutchmed were up 4.7% at 246.00 pence each in London on Thursday morning.
By Emily Parsons, Alliance News reporter
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