Amgen said on October 31st that it will invest $2.7 billion for a 20.5% stake in BeiGene. The investment will put BeiGene at the heart of Amgen’s efforts to develop oncology drugs for the Chinese market. BeiGene has grown into a significant player in the Chinese biotech field, raising $903 million through a Hong Kong listing last year and building a 600-person clinical development group. The fundraising and spending has equipped BeiGene to serve as a bridge for Western companies that want to access the Chinese cancer market, which is potentially very lucrative but poses challenges for outsiders. Amgen is tapping into BeiGene’s capabilities by buying a big stake in the Chinese biotech at a 25% premium to its price Thursday. Under the terms of the deal, BeiGene will help develop 20 cancer drugs from Amgen’s pipeline for the Chinese market. Amgen and BeiGene will split Chinese profits from the drugs during the first seven years. Once the rights revert to Amgen, BeiGene will receive royalties for another five years. BeiGene will also receive royalties on ex-China sales of all the cancer drugs it helps develop, except AMG 510, reflecting the expectation that Amgen will use clinical data from the collaboration to support global filings.
For further information, see FierceBiotech (https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/amgen-pays-2-7b-to-enlist-beigene-as-chinese-r-d-partner?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTUdZMVl6UTFaak16TldFMyIsInQiOiIwOXJEQ2oxZ3RXbXFySmZOUEErckg5SDQyYWc4azJMU0xzQ2k2RWFtcFB4UTNHbDVscHBGdXJaNkdSZ2U4bXVjSUZ3dXFib05VQ1wvM2tPTWZndzhlUnlRK0xBK1dvK2lqbzJSdERaOGNRTUIrZjRRNU10Y1lDVWJlcVBscWRhd2kifQ%3D%3D&mrkid=75529467)
