Bristol Myers Squibb signs $15.2 billion drug deal with China's Hengrui as patent cliff looms

"Bristol Myers Squibb has signed a deal worth up to 15.2 billion dollars with Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine, China's largest pharmaceutical company by market capitalisation. The agreement covers 13 early-stage drug programmes across oncology, haematology, and immunology. None of the drugs have entered human clinical trials. The deal was announced on the same day that President Trump flew to Beijing for his first state visit to China in his second term."

"BMS will pay Hengrui 600 million dollars at closing, 175 million on the first anniversary, and a contingent 175 million in 2028, totalling 950 million dollars in structured payments through the near term. The remaining 14.25 billion is in development, regulatory, and commercial milestones. BMS gets exclusive worldwide rights to Hengrui's four oncology and haematology assets outside mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau. Hengrui gets exclusive rights to four BMS immunology assets inside those territories."

"Bristol Myers Squibb is staring at a patent cliff that will strip roughly 300 billion dollars in revenue from the global pharmaceutical industry by 2030. Its own blockbusters, Opdivo and Eliquis, together generating more than 22 billion dollars in annual sales, face loss of exclusivity around 2028. The company needs new molecules. It cannot discover them fast enough on its own. China can."

Bristol Myers Squibb signed an agreement worth up to $15.2 billion with Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine for 13 early-stage drug programmes in oncology, haematology, and immunology. None of the programmes had entered human clinical trials at the time of announcement. The deal includes structured payments of $600 million at closing, $175 million on the first anniversary, and $175 million in 2028, with the remainder tied to development, regulatory, and commercial milestones. Bristol Myers Squibb receives exclusive worldwide rights to four oncology and haematology assets outside mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau. Hengrui receives exclusive rights to four immunology assets in those territories. The companies will jointly discover and develop five additional programmes using Hengrui’s discovery engine.

Read at TNW | China