News Category: Portfolio

LONDON and WALTHAM, Mass., Dec. 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE)–GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE/NYSE: GSK) and TESARO Inc (NASDAQ: TSRO) today announced that the Companies have entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which GSK will acquire TESARO, an oncology-focused company based in Waltham, Massachusetts, for an aggregate cash consideration of approximately $5.1 billion (£4.0 billion). The proposed transaction significantly strengthens GSK’s pharmaceutical business, accelerating the build of GSK’s pipeline and commercial capability in oncology.

TESARO is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, with a major marketed product, Zejula (niraparib), an oral poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor currently approved for use in ovarian cancer. PARP inhibitors are transforming the treatment of ovarian cancer, notably demonstrating marked clinical benefit in patients with and without germline mutations in a BRCA gene (gBRCA). Zejula is currently approved in the US and Europe as a treatment for adult patients with recurrent ovarian cancer who are in response to platinum-based chemotherapy, regardless of BRCA mutation or biomarker status.

In March 2016, Ally Bridge Group (“ABG”), a global healthcare-focused investment group, announced that it has completed an equity investment in TESARO, Inc. The investment was made as part of a private placement of 4.4 million shares of TSRO common stock that closed on March 17, 2016, resulting in gross proceeds of $155 million.

Clinical trials to assess the use of Zejula in “all-comers” patient populations, as a monotherapy and in combinations, for the significantly larger opportunity of first line maintenance treatment of ovarian cancer are also underway. These ongoing trials are evaluating the potential benefit of Zejula in patients who carry gBRCA mutations as well as the larger population of patients without gBRCA mutations whose tumours are HRD-positive and HRD-negative. Results from the first of these studies, PRIMA, are expected to be available in the second half of 2019.

GSK also believes PARP inhibitors offer significant opportunities for use in the treatment of multiple cancer types. In addition to ovarian cancer, Zejula is currently being investigated for use as a possible treatment in lung, breast and prostate cancer, both as a monotherapy and in combination with other medicines, including with TESARO’s own anti-PD-1 antibody (dostarlimab, formerly known as TSR-042).

In addition to Zejula, TESARO has several oncology assets in its pipeline including antibodies directed against PD-1, TIM-3 and LAG-3 targets.

Emma Walmsley, Chief Executive Officer, GSK, said: “The acquisition of TESARO will strengthen our pharmaceuticals business by accelerating the build of our oncology pipeline and commercial footprint, along with providing access to new scientific capabilities. This combination will support our aim to deliver long-term sustainable growth and is consistent with our capital allocation priorities. We look forward to working with TESARO’s talented team to bring valuable new medicines to patients.”

Hal Barron, Chief Scientific Officer and President, R&D, GSK, said: “Our strong belief is that PARP inhibitors are important medicines that have been under appreciated in terms of the impact they can have on cancer patients. We are optimistic that Zejula will demonstrate benefit in patients with ovarian cancer beyond those who are BRCA-positive as front-line treatment. We are also very excited that through this transaction, we will have the opportunity to work with an outstanding Boston-based oncology group with deep clinical development expertise and together we will explore Zejula’s efficacy beyond ovarian cancer into multiple tumour types to help many more patients.”

Lonnie Moulder, Chief Executive Officer, TESARO, said: “This transaction marks the beginning of a new global partnership that will accelerate our oncology business and allow our mission of delivering transformative products to individuals living with cancer to endure. Our Board and Management team are very pleased to announce this transaction, and we are grateful to the management team at GSK for their tremendous vision and the opportunity to preserve and build upon the impact we have had in the cancer community to date.”

Mary Lynne Hedley, President and Chief Operating Officer, TESARO, said: “This partnership marks an evolution in the way we live out the TESARO mission and will allow us to more rapidly deliver on our commitment to patients. I am excited to be partnering with our new colleagues at GSK as together we advance innovative scientific and drug development strategies that ultimately enable us to provide more time for more patients.”

Financial highlights

The acquisition price of $75 per share in cash represents a 110% premium to TESARO’s 30 day Volume Weighted Average Price of $35.67 and an aggregate consideration of approximately $5.1 billion (£4.0 billion) including the assumption of TESARO’s net debt.

Zejula’s revenues in its current approved indication as second-line maintenance treatment for ovarian cancer were $166 million for the 9 months ended 30 September 2018.

GSK expects the acquisition of TESARO and associated R&D and commercial investments will impact Adjusted EPS for the first two years by mid to high single digit percentages, reducing thereafter with the acquisition expected to start to be accretive to Adjusted EPS by 2022.

GSK’s guidance for full-year 2018 Adjusted EPS growth remains unchanged at 8 to 10% at CER. GSK continues to expect to deliver on its previously published Group Outlooks to 2020, but following the acquisition of TESARO now expects Adjusted EPS growth at CER for the period 2016-2020 to be at the bottom end of the mid to high single digit percentage CAGR range.

Guidance and Group Outlooks are given on the bases set out on pages 37 and 38 of GSK’s Q3 2018 results, including definitions of CER growth and Adjusted results.

GSK confirms no change to its current dividend policy and continues to expect to pay 80p in dividends for 2018.

GSK expects to fund the acquisition from cash resources and drawing under a new acquisition facility.

Structure and Terms of the Transaction

Under the terms of the merger agreement between GSK and TESARO, unanimously approved by TESARO’s Board of Directors, a subsidiary of GSK will commence a tender offer within the next 10 business days to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of TESARO common stock for a price of $75 per share in cash upon completion of the offer. The transaction is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2019, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including the tender by TESARO stockholders of at least one share more than 50% of the issued and outstanding shares of TESARO and required regulatory approvals, including clearance by the US Federal Trade Commission. Following closing of the tender offer, GSK will acquire any shares of TESARO that are not tendered in the tender offer through a second-step merger under Delaware law at the tender offer price.

The value of the gross assets of TESARO to be acquired (as at 30 September 2018) is $711 million (£555 million at the rate of £1 = $1.28, being the 30 November spot rate). The net losses of the business were $466 million for the 9 months ended 30 September 2018 (£345 million, at the rate of £1 = $1.35, being the average rate for the 9 months ended 30 September 2018).

GSK is in discussions with several key executives of TESARO to ensure their continued employment with the company.

WuXi AppTec Co., the Chinese contract medical researcher, has submitted an application for a Hong Kong share sale, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The offering could raise more than $1 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. The Shanghai-listed shares of WuXi AppTec have nearly quadrupled since they began trading in May, giving the company a $13 billion market value.

WuXi AppTec, which previously traded on the New York Stock Exchange, was taken private in 2015 in a $3.3 billion deal by founder Ge Li and a group of investors including Ally Bridge Group and Hillhouse Capital. The company raised 2.25 billion yuan ($328 million) in its initial public offering in Shanghai earlier this year, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

A Hong Kong-based external representative for WuXi AppTec declined to comment.

Wuxi Biologics Cayman Inc., which was spun off from the medical researcher, has risen nearly 250 percent since listing in Hong Kong in June last year.

First-time share sales in the city have raised $29 billion so far this year, 76 percent more than during all of last year, the data show.

Hua Medicine, a China-based drug development company with a focus on developing a global first-in-class oral drug for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, successfully completed its initial public offering, or IPO, and listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The IPO priced at HK$8.28 per share, with a total offering size of 104,756,000 shares, before over-allotments, raising approximately HK$867 million with a market capitalization of approximately HK$8,710 million immediately after the IPO.

The Global Sponsors for the IPO were Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C. and CLSA Capital Markets Limited, the Joint Bookrunners were Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C., CLSA Limited and UBS AG Hong Kong Branch and the Joint Lead Managers were Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C, CLSA Limited, UBS AG Hong Kong Branch and Guotai Junan Securities (Hong Kong) Limited.

This press release does not, and is not intended to be or constitute an offer to sell, or an invitation or solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for, the Hua Medicine in the United States or any other jurisdiction. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended or any state securities laws of the United States and may not be offered and sold within the United States absent an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act. No public offering of the securities referred to herein will be made in the United States or in any jurisdiction outside of Hong Kong.

China Investment Corporation (CIC), a sovereign wealth fund has participated in a RMB1 billion (US$151 million) series D round in Beijing-based oncology, big data firm LinkDoc Technology Ltd.

Following in the footsteps of retail and education, healthcare firms in China have been on the VC radar and have attracted considerable funding in the recent months.

Founded in 2014, the company collects and standardizes healthcare data, covering more than 3,000 diseases, from hospitals and provides customized data for healthcare regulators, researchers, insurers and pharmaceutical companies. It has partnered with about 500 first-tier hospitals in more than 30 provinces and regions in China.

In 2016, the firm raised an undisclosed series B round led by China Broadband Capital, and participated by Ally Bridge Group, Cenova Capital and New Enterprise Associates.

In 2015, it also raised an undisclosed series A round from New Enterprise Associates.

Headquartered in Beijing, China Investment Corporation (CIC) was founded in 2007 as a wholly state-owned company, with registered capital of US$200 billion. The company was established as a vehicle to diversify China’s foreign exchange holdings.

The other investors in this round are not disclosed.

HONG KONG and MONTPELLIER, France, June 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Ally Bridge Group (“ABG”), a leading cross-border life science investment group, has completed a Series A investment, as the first part of a total of $50 million raise, in Quantum Surgical, an innovative surgical robotics company in France.

Quantum Surgical is developing next-generation robotic solutions for minimally invasive cancer therapies. Quantum’s predecessor company Medtech SA, a leading French neurosurgical robotics company, was acquired by global orthopaedics giant Zimmer Biomet in 2016 after an investment from ABG in 2015.

“ABG is excited to support again the Quantum Surgical team led by Bertin Nahum in their new venture following our successful investment in — and exit from — Medtech SA. The team has been dedicated to — and has a proven track record — in developing and commercializing innovative surgical robots globally. ABG has been working closely with Quantum Surgical since its inception and our partnership now breaks into new ground in building next-generation surgical robots to facilitate interventional oncology treatment, especially for early-stage cancer patients,” said Frank Yu, Founder, CEO and CIO of Ally Bridge Group. “Quantum Surgical is a natural extension of ABG’s recently led US$300 million investment in GRAIL, a healthcare company whose mission is to detect cancer early, when it can be cured. Early cancer detection must be accompanied by more effective early treatment,” Frank Yu added.

“Quantum will set new standards for minimally invasive cancer treatment procedures. We are excited to partner up with Ally Bridge Group — again, after our successful collaboration in 2015-2016, and to continue to benefit from ABG’s truly global industry perspectives, network and strong financing, capital markets and M&A capabilities,” said Bertin Nahum, Founder and CEO of Quantum Surgical.

Lifetech Scientific, a leading innovative medtech company in China, has also participated in the investment through its joint venture with ABG and will collaborate with Quantum Surgical in China market.

About Ally Bridge Group

Ally Bridge Group (“ABG”), founded and led by Frank Yu (previously at Goldman Sachs and Och-Ziff Capital), is a global life science-focused investment firm. ABG and its affiliates manage over US$2 billion in life science assets in China, the U.S., and Europe, from medtech to biopharmaceuticals. ABG focuses on investing in some of the world’s most innovative medicines and leading high-impact transactions. In 2015, ABG initiated, led and completed the landmark US$3.3 billion NYSE take-private of Wuxi Pharmatech. In 2016, Medtech SA, a leading French surgical robotics company, was acquired by Zimmer-Biomet several months after ABG’s investment. In 2018, ABG led a US$300 million Series C financing for GRAIL, a global pioneer in early cancer detection. ABG has expertise in cementing strategic partnerships between emerging healthcare companies and industry leaders, and across different geographies, particularly between the U.S., China and Europe. For more information, please visit www.ally-bridge.com.

About Quantum Surgical

Founded in 2017, Quantum Surgical is a next-generation surgical robotics start-up founded by Bertin Nahum, a serial entrepreneur and founder of Medtech SA. The Company is building next-generation smart tools for minimally invasive therapies, beginning with interventional oncology. The robotic platform will enable physicians to better assess, plan, and treat a broad spectrum of medical conditions. The Company is developing end-to-end solutions for interventional oncology. For more information, please visit http://quantum-surgical.eu/.

MENLO PARK, Calif. & HONG KONG–(BUSINESS WIRE) — GRAIL, Inc., a healthcare company whose mission is to detect cancer early, when it can be cured, today announced it has raised USD$300 million in an oversubscribed Series C financing. The financing is led by Ally Bridge Group, co-led by Hillhouse Capital Group and 6 Dimensions Capital, and includes Blue Pool Capital, China Merchant Securities International, CRF Investment, HuangPu River Capital (HPR), ICBC International, Sequoia Capital China, and WuXi NextCODE.

Since early 2016, GRAIL has raised more than $1.5 billion in three rounds of equity financing to pursue its vision of transforming the way cancer is diagnosed and reducing global cancer mortality. The Series C funding will add to the company’s balance sheet and support ongoing development and validation of products for the early detection of cancer in GRAIL’s clinical research program.

“GRAIL has continued to execute at a rapid pace towards its goal of saving lives through early detection of cancer. We have enrolled more than 73,000 participants in our population-scale clinical studies, CCGA and STRIVE, and are on-track to complete enrollment in both studies this year,” said Jennifer Cook, Chief Executive Officer of GRAIL. “We recently reported data supporting the potential for development of a highly specific and sensitive blood test, and are now continuing our development programs to optimize and validate a product for early detection of multiple cancer types.”

“We are fortunate to partner with new international investors who share our vision of delivering early detection products to people globally,” said Ken Drazan, President of GRAIL. “Many of our new investors have a focus in Asia, which we believe is a natural fit as we plan to grow our capabilities and operations in the region, following the planned launch of our first product for early detection of nasopharyngeal cancer in Hong Kong this year.”

“We are very impressed with the scientific, clinical, and software engineering achievements the team at GRAIL has made in just over two years. Our significant investment in GRAIL aligns well with Ally Bridge’s strong focus on investing in some of the world’s most innovative life science technologies and enhancing value-creation across geographies,” said Frank Yu, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ally Bridge Group.

About GRAIL’s Clinical Research Program

GRAIL is conducting what the company believes to be one of the largest clinical research programs ever pursued in genomic medicine in collaboration with leading community and academic medical centers globally. GRAIL has initiated two large-scale studies to date, which are designed to characterize the landscape of cancer-defining cell-free nucleic acid profiles, and to develop and validate blood tests for the early detection of multiple cancer types. The Circulating Cell-free Genome Atlas (CCGA) Study is a prospective, observational, longitudinal study enrolling more than 15,000 people with and without cancer. The STRIVE Study is a prospective, observational, longitudinal, cohort study enrolling 120,000 women at the time of their screening mammogram.

About GRAIL

GRAIL is a healthcare company whose mission is to detect cancer early, when it can be cured. GRAIL is using the power of high-intensity sequencing, population-scale clinical studies, and state-of-the-art computer science and data science to enhance the scientific understanding of cancer biology, and to develop and commercialize pioneering products for the early detection of cancer. The company is located in Menlo Park, California and Hong Kong. It is supported by leading global investors and pharmaceutical, technology, and healthcare companies. For more information, please visit www.grail.com.

Hong Kong and Shanghai, May 8, 2018 / BioCentury / – – Services and manufacturing company WuXi AppTec Co. Ltd. (Shanghai:603259) raised RMB2.3 billion ($354 million) through the sale of 104.2 million shares at RMB21.60 in an IPO underwritten by Huatai and Guotai Junan. The price values WuXi at RMB22.5 billion ($3.5 billion), based on 1 billion shares outstanding. The company expects to begin trading on Tuesday.

WuXi AppTec has been operating as a unit of New WuXi Life Science Ltd. (formerly WuXi PharmaTech Inc.). That company has been privately held since December 2015, when an investor syndicate led by Ally Bridge Group and WuXi Chairman and CEO Ge Li took it private in a $3.3 billion deal. It had been traded on the New York Stock Exchange (see BioCentury, Aug. 15, 2016).

https://www.biocentury.com/biocentury/finance/2016-08-15/how-ally-bridge-expects-build-top-wuxi-arbitrage-play

Another company under New WuXi’s umbrella, WuXi Biologics Inc. (HKSE:2269), raised HK$4 billion ($510 million) in a 2017 IPO. That offering valued the biologics discovery, development and manufacturing company at HK$23.4 billion ($3 billion) (see BioCentury Extra, June 7, 2017).

https://www.biocentury.com/bc-extra/financial-news/2017-06-07/wuxi-biologics-raises-hk4b-ipo

Last month, the China Securities Regulatory Commission approved WuXi AppTec’s listing. At the time, Ally Bridge’s Frank Yu told BioCentury that WuXi AppTec chose a mainland exchange to avoid the complexities of listing on the same exchange as WuXi Biologics (see BioCentury Extra, March 27).

https://www.biocentury.com/bc-extra/financial-news/2018-05-07/wuxi-apptec-prices-shanghai-ipo

SHANGHAI, May 8, 2018— WuXi AppTec Co., Ltd. (“WuXi AppTec” or “the Company”; Stock Code: 603259), a leading global pharmaceutical and medical device open-access capability and technology platform company, today announced listing of its initial public offering of 104,198,600 shares of common stock at a public offering price of RMB21.60 per share. Proceeds from the IPO will be used to build and expand its R&D facilities in China, further strengthening its capabilities and capacities to better serve global customers and partners.

WuXi AppTec, headquartered in Shanghai, is now operating globally with 26 sites and branch offices in China, the United States, Germany, UK, Japan, Korea and Israel. The Company’s integrated R&D, manufacturing and testing platform for small molecules, cell and gene therapies, and medical devices is supporting over 3,000 customers and partners around the world.

“I’m deeply grateful for the great confidence and support we have received from the investment community,” said Dr. Ge Li, Chairman and CEO of WuXi AppTec. “It allows us to further focus on our mission and accelerate growth of our enabling platform. Our commitment has always remained the same – we want to empower and enable anyone and any company to advance medicines for patients faster. This commitment will underpin everything we do as we build a strong, valuable and socially responsible public company.”

About WuXi AppTec

WuXi AppTec is a leading global pharmaceutical and medical device open-access capability and technology platform company with global operations. As an innovation-driven and customer-focused company, WuXi AppTec provides a broad and integrated portfolio of services to help our worldwide customers and partners shorten the discovery and development time and lower the cost of drug and medical device R&D through cost-effective and efficient solutions. With its industry-leading capabilities such as small molecule R&D and manufacturing, cell therapy and gene therapy R&D and manufacturing, and medical device testing, WuXi platform is enabling nearly 3,000 innovative collaborators from more than 30 countries to bring innovative healthcare products to patients, and to fulfill WuXi’s dream that “every drug can be made and every disease can be treated.” Please visit http://www.wuxiapptec.com

MARLBOROUGH, Mass., April 30, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) today announced the close of its acquisition of NxThera. The company developed the Rezūm^® system, a minimally invasive therapy (MIT) for patients with symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). With the completion of the acquisition, NxThera will become part of the Boston Scientific Urology and Pelvic Health business.

“We are confident in the potential for this system to help patients with BPH and increase the number of men choosing MITs, because it offers long-term relief from symptoms without the side effects of medications,” said Dave Pierce, executive vice president and president, MedSurg, Boston Scientific. “The minimally invasive therapy segment is the fastest growing category in the treatment of BPH and, as an office-based procedure, the Rezūm system is appealing to patients, clinicians and payers.”

The Boston Scientific Urology and Pelvic Health business provides a range of treatment options for men’s and women’s urological and gynecological conditions. The Rezūm system complements the company’s existing portfolio of treatment options for symptomatic BPH, which includes the GreenLight XPS^TM Laser Therapy system and holmium laser platforms.

The two organizations announced a definitive agreement on March 21, 2018 for Boston Scientific to acquire NxThera.

About Boston Scientific

Boston Scientific transforms lives through innovative medical solutions that improve the health of patients around the world. As a global medical technology leader for more than 35 years, we advance science for life by providing a broad range of high performance solutions that address unmet patient needs and reduce the cost of healthcare. For more information, visit www.bostonscientific.com and connect on Twitter and Facebook.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words like “anticipate,” “expect,” “project,” “believe,” “plan,” “estimate,” “intend” and similar words. These forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions and estimates using information available to us at the time and are not intended to be guarantees of future events or performance. These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements regarding our product launches and product performance and impact. If our underlying assumptions turn out to be incorrect, or if certain risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from the expectations and projections expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. These factors, in some cases, have affected and in the future (together with other factors) could affect our ability to implement our business strategy and may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the statements expressed in this press release. As a result, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of our forward-looking statements.

Factors that may cause such differences include, among other things: future economic, competitive, reimbursement and regulatory conditions; new product introductions; demographic trends; the closing and integration of acquisitions; intellectual property; litigation; financial market conditions; and future business decisions made by us and our competitors. All of these factors are difficult or impossible to predict accurately and many of them are beyond our control. For a further list and description of these and other important risks and uncertainties that may affect our future operations, see Part I, Item 1A – Risk Factors in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which we may update in Part II, Item 1A – Risk Factors in Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q we have filed or will file hereafter. We disclaim any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in our expectations or in events, conditions or circumstances on which those expectations may be based, or that may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. This cautionary statement is applicable to all forward-looking statements contained in this document.

Hua Medicine, a clinical-stage drug development company developing novel therapies for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, announced the closing of a combined Series D & Series E financing of US$ 117.4 million. The financing included new investors Blue Pool Capital Limited, GIC Private Limited, AVICT Global, 6 Dimensions Capital, Adrian Cheng (via K11 Investments), Ping An Ventures, Mirae Asset Financial Group and certain healthcare funds managed by a leading US investment management firm, as well as existing investors ARCH Venture Partners, Eight Roads, F-Prime Capital Partners, Venrock, WuXi AppTec Corporate Ventures, Ally Bridge Group, Harvest Investments, co-founders and management. The financing is expected to fully fund the Company through completion of its two Phase 3 trials and commercial launch in China for Dorzagliatin (HMS5552), a new first-in-class, 4th-generation glucokinase activator (GKA) that treats the impaired blood glucose sensor function, and thereby seeks to address the underlying cause of Type 2 diabetes.

“From the inception of Hua, the company is committed to developing novel drugs to address significant unmet medical needs globally, and has been supported by our great investors around the world. With this round of financing, we will continue our efforts to advance the development of Dorzagliatin so that its novel, beneficial disease-modifying effects can be shared with Type 2 diabetes patients in China first, and then globally,” said Dr. Li Chen, CEO of Hua Medicine.

About Hua Medicine

Hua is a leading, innovative drug development company based in Shanghai, China focused on novel therapies for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes and levodopa-induced dyskinesia in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Founded by an experienced group of entrepreneurs and well-known, international investment firms,Hua has world-wide rights to two novel assets. The most advanced program is a first-in-class, oral drug for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes that is currently in two Phase III trials in China: i) monotherapy;and ii) combination therapy with metformin. According to the International Diabetes Foundation, there were approximately 425 million diabetes patients in 2017 worldwide.China had the largest number of diabetes patients, with over 114 million diabetes patients, of which it was estimated that over 53% are undiagnosed for diabetes.