BusinessPostCorner.com
No Result
View All Result
Thursday, June 5, 2025
  • Home
  • Business
  • Finance
  • Accounting
  • Tax
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Crypto News
  • Human Resources
BusinessPostCorner.com
  • Home
  • Business
  • Finance
  • Accounting
  • Tax
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Crypto News
  • Human Resources
No Result
View All Result
BusinessPostCorner.com
No Result
View All Result

GSK on hunt for drug deals in China

December 17, 2023
in Finance
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
0
GSK on hunt for drug deals in China
ShareShareShareShareShare

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

GSK is on the hunt for deals in China after the UK drugmaker rebuilt a “very strong” relationship with the government and local companies since a corruption scandal a decade ago.

Chief commercial officer Luke Miels told the Financial Times that the company was working on further deals with Chinese companies after it signed a licensing agreement in October worth up to $1.5bn for a cancer drug developed by Hansoh Pharma.

The same month, GSK agreed a $3bn distribution deal for its shingles vaccine with China’s Zhifei, which may be expanded to cover its new vaccine that protects against the common respiratory syncytial virus, if it is approved by Chinese regulators.

Miels said that the country’s high standards of chemistry made it a good hunting ground. “You can find molecules in China and [often] the Chinese companies just want the [domestic] rights so you can negotiate . . . [to] take it globally.”

GSK has had a much smaller business in China than its rival AstraZeneca, partly because of a scandal more than a decade ago over GSK sales staff bribing doctors to prescribe its medicines. GSK was fined £300mn in 2014 and dismissed more than 100 staff in China. 

Miels said that the pharmaceutical company has since “rebuilt” its business in China. 

“So you have to tread carefully anywhere, you’re in a regulated industry, but I don’t think it’s something that is in the forefront for us now,” he said. “Our relationship with the government, with local companies, is very strong. I think we’ve moved, we’ve changed the team, we’ve got a good record in China,” he said. 

Shares in GSK have fallen 5 per cent in the past five years, while many of its European rivals including Novo Nordisk, AstraZeneca and Novartis have soared. The company has yet to convince investors that it can meet its long-term revenue targets and is also contesting a series of lawsuits alleging that its heartburn medication Zantac causes cancer, which it denies. 

Miels said the company intends to do as much global M&A in 2024 as it did this year. GSK reached five deals in 2023, including acquiring Bellus Health for $2bn, three licensing agreements and the vaccine partnership with Zhifei.

It is looking in particular for smaller bolt-on deals in its specialist areas such as respiratory and infectious diseases. These could be found for “an attractive price”, said Miels. 

But he ruled out bidding for companies with potential obesity treatments, despite surging sales of weight loss and diabetes drugs sold by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. He said GSK did not have the “internal capabilities” to invest in the new generation of drugs, called GLP-1s. 

“I think that Lilly and Novo are well advanced and any products likely to come in would have to have significant differences. What you are more likely to see is fast followers,” he said. 

In November, AstraZeneca announced it had reached a licensing agreement for the global rights to a next generation version of a GLP-1 developed by China’s Eccogene. This month, Roche agreed to buy Carmot Therapeutics, a US start-up with potential GLP-1 drugs, for up to $3.1bn.

Credit: Source link

ShareTweetSendPinShare
Previous Post

Food producers turn to greener fertilisers to reduce carbon footprints

Next Post

6 ways to avoid holiday travel stress

Next Post
6 ways to avoid holiday travel stress

6 ways to avoid holiday travel stress

Commodities giant ADM exploits green fuel loophole, UK producers say

Commodities giant ADM exploits green fuel loophole, UK producers say

May 30, 2025
Opec+ to boost oil output for third consecutive month

Opec+ to boost oil output for third consecutive month

May 31, 2025
Pepe Price Prediction: Can $PEPE Reach 1 Cent?

Pepe Price Prediction: Can $PEPE Reach 1 Cent?

May 29, 2025
ETH Price Rally Incoming? Ethereum Funds See 1M Inflows

ETH Price Rally Incoming? Ethereum Funds See $321M Inflows

June 2, 2025
What the House gave the Senate: Inside the Big Beautiful tax bill

What the House gave the Senate: Inside the Big Beautiful tax bill

June 3, 2025
Train firms must stop criminalising ‘innocent errors’, report finds

Train firms must stop criminalising ‘innocent errors’, report finds

June 3, 2025
BusinessPostCorner.com

BusinessPostCorner.com is an online news portal that aims to share the latest news about following topics: Accounting, Tax, Business, Finance, Crypto, Management, Human resources and Marketing. Feel free to get in touch with us!

Recent News

Tesla’s largest EV plant in the world suffers eighth straight month of declining demand as May sales sink 15% 

Tesla’s largest EV plant in the world suffers eighth straight month of declining demand as May sales sink 15% 

June 5, 2025
Europe cuts interest rates as Trump’s tariffs loom

Europe cuts interest rates as Trump’s tariffs loom

June 5, 2025

Our Newsletter!

Loading
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • DMCA

© 2023 businesspostcorner.com - All Rights Reserved!

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Finance
  • Accounting
  • Tax
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Crypto News
  • Human Resources

© 2023 businesspostcorner.com - All Rights Reserved!