Hutchmed’s billion-dollar deal

Hutchmed, the Chinese biotechnology group and one of the biggest companies on Aim, has struck a billion-dollar deal with Takeda, of Japan, to develop and commercialise its cancer treatment outside China.

The licence agreement will give Takeda the exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and sell fruquintinib, Hutchmed’s lead asset that is a treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer, outside mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. Hutchmed, formerly known as Hutchison China Meditech, or Chi-Med, will receive up to $1.13 billion from an upfront payment of $400 million and up to $730 million in potential payments relating to regulatory, development and sales milestones.

Fruquintinib was the first oncology therapy discovered and developed in China to receive unconditional approval in the country in 2018.

Analysts at Panmure Gordon said the company had a record of negotiating deals with royalties structured at least at mid-teen levels and they would be surprised if the deal with Takeda took on a substantially different profile.

Hutchmed’s shares closed up 12p, or 4.2 per cent, at 297½p.

Wall Street report

Hopes that a busy week of earnings reports will feature good news from Big Tech lifted indices, with the Nasdaq rising 223.98 points, 2 per cent, to 11,364.41 and the Dow Jones industrial average adding 254.07 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 33,629.56.

Original article here: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/need-for-change-at-thg-is-all-too-clear-says-bank-0qmx7kvfp

Author: Jessica Newman, Journalist, The Times

Dr Julie Simmonds

Managing Director, Research Analyst, Healthcare

Dr Mike Mitchell

Director, Research Analyst, Healthcare