Pharmaceutical companies are adopting a contraction strategy, and frequent asset sales are the norm

【Pharmaceutical Network Industry News】Recently, Harbour Biopharma announced that the company entered into an asset transfer agreement with WuXi Haide to sell the production plant of the Biomacromolecule R&D Innovation Center project for a total consideration of RMB 146 million
.
It is reported that the clinical supply and production facility project sold will start in 2021, and Harbour Pharma is intended to support the clinical development of the company's product pipeline project, which covers an area of about 8,500 square meters and has a design and production scale of up to 4,000 liters, and the facility is expected to be put into production
by the end of 2022.
Judging from public information, Harbour Pharmaceutical's business adjustment actions have been very frequent in the past two months, not only selling factories, but also two core products under research have been terminated and sold
respectively.
According to the announcement issued by Harbour Pharmaceutical, based on the observed trend of insufficient efficacy, according to the recommendation of the Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC), the phase III clinical trial of tenanercept (HBM9036) was terminated and no new subjects
were enrolled.
In addition, the company also announced the transfer of exclusive rights in the development, manufacture and commercialization of bartolimab (HBM9161) in Greater China (including Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) to Enbip Pharmaceutical, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CSPC Group
.
In fact, at the beginning of the year, many industry insiders predicted that biotech companies (biomedical start-ups) would face a large number of bankruptcies
in two years.
Since the beginning of this year, a large number of pharmaceutical companies such as CStone Pharmaceutical, Ascletis Pharmaceutical, and Clover Biotechnology have indeed made adjustments
.
For example, on November 15, CStone Pharmaceuticals also posted on its WeChat public account that considering that the Suzhou factory is still in the trial operation stage and there is no clear large-scale production demand in the near future, in order to reduce the company's operating costs, the company decided to suspend the trial operation
of the Suzhou factory in early November 。 On August 14, Northeast Pharmaceutical issued an announcement entitled "Northeast Pharmaceutical Group Co.
, Ltd.
on the Company's Proposed Disposal of Assets" (hereinafter referred to as the "Announcement"), which stated that according to business needs, it intends to dispose of two residences located in Building 37, Yuzhong West Road, Xicheng District, Beijing, which were built in 1991 with a construction area of 89.
3 square meters and 64 square meters
respectively.
According to the average price of 135,000 yuan / square meter, if the two properties are successfully sold, it is expected to bring nearly 21 million yuan of liquidity to Northeast Pharmaceutical
.
In addition, Zai Lab reported in its 2022 half-year report that the company stopped research and development of the CDC7 inhibitor ZL-2309, while also reducing its internal development priority
for the investigational CD47 inhibitor ZL-1201.
Industry analysts believe that behind the frequent disposal of assets by pharmaceutical companies, in addition to the practical pressure of returning to the main business, most of them are also facing the problems
of performance losses and weak growth of the main business.
In the future, under the background of the continuous deepening of pharmaceutical market reform and the increasing market concentration, a large number of pharmaceutical companies are expected to adopt a shrinkage strategy
.
Disclaimer: Under no circumstances does the information or opinions expressed herein constitute investment advice
to anyone.