WuXi AppTec, WuXi Biologics surge in Hong Kong as biotech firms put some operations for sale

 Shares of WuXi AppTec and WuXi Biologics surged in Hong Kong on Friday, following a report that the two firms are looking to divest some of their operations in the wake of new United States legislation targeting Chinese biotech companies.

WuXi AppTec’s shares closed up almost 12 per cent to HK$67.10 on Friday, while shares of subsidiary WuXi Biologics rose nearly 15 per cent to HK$21.45.

Those gains were made after The Financial Times, citing people familiar with the matter, reported on Thursday that WuXi AppTec has put on the market its cell and gene therapy unit WuXi Advanced Therapies, which operates four laboratories and manufacturing facilities in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

According to the report, WuXi Biologics is working with advisers to gauge interest from potential bidders for its European production facilities, including two in Germany and one in Ireland.

One of about 10 facilities operated in mainland China by WuXi Biologics, a global contract research, development and manufacturing organisation. Photo: WuXi Biologics

Friday’s market performance comes weeks after the shares of WuXi AppTec and WuXi Biologics tumbled in Hong Kong after the US House of Representatives last month passed a bill that would restrict business with certain targeted Chinese biotech companies.

The reported divestment initiatives show the two companies’ efforts to head off the potential impact of the Biosecure Act, which must be approved by the US Senate before it goes to President Joe Biden for his signature.

If the bill is enacted into law, it will bar federal contracts with the targeted Chinese firms and their American subsidiaries. The initial targets are WuXi AppTec, WuXi Biologics and BGI Group, along with its spin-off MGI and US subsidiary Complete Genomics.

The legislation aims to encourage US firms to cut their reliance on Chinese research and manufacturing, while safeguarding US data and American firms’ intellectual property that could be threatened by China.

WuXi AppTec and WuXi Biologics previously denied that they pose any security risk to the US.

WuXi AppTec founder, chairman and chief executive Li Ge (centre) is flanked by then-joint company secretary Yao Chi (left) and vice-chairman Edward Hu at the firm’s global offering press conference in Hong Kong on November 30, 2018. Photo: Edward Wong

Chinese biotech companies, like the broader technology sector, have become ensnared in tensions between Beijing and Washington. The Biden administration and ally nations have imposed export restrictions on China that cover the most cutting-edge products, including artificial intelligence chips.

There were a total of 28 measures scheduled for a vote last month by the Republican-led House that reference or focus on competition with China, addressing issues ranging from countering Beijing’s technological, political and economic influence to bolstering American allies in the Indo-Pacific. Most of the bills are Republican-led, but draw on bipartisan support.

WuXi AppTec reported first-half revenue of 17.24 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion), down 8.6 per cent from a year earlier, while its profit fell 20 per cent to 4.24 billion yuan in the same period. That marked the first time in five years that the company saw a decrease in both its top and bottom lines.

The company generated 65 per cent of its sales from the US last year, according to Zhongtai Securities. For WuXi Biologics, 58 per cent of its sales came from the US in the first half of this year.

Chinese-American scientist and entrepreneur Li Ge – with a net worth of US$5.1 billion as of Friday, according to Forbes – founded WuXi PharmaTech in Shanghai in December 2000. The company was renamed WuXi AppTec in 2008 after acquiring US medical-device and biologics testing firm AppTec Laboratory Services, a year after the firm was listed in New York. The company was delisted in the US market in 2015.

Before founding his own company, Li had worked for US biotech firm Pharmacopeia after completing his studies. He received a PhD degree in organic chemistry from Columbia University in 1994 after graduating from Peking University in 1989.

https://www.scmp.com/news/article/3281119/wuxi-apptec-wuxi-biologics-surge-hong-kong-biotech-firms-put-some-operations-sale

J&J drops phase 2 dengue candidate as part of ongoing move away from vaccines

Johnson & Johnson’s deprioritization of its infectious disease pipeline has claimed another victim in the form of its dengue virus vaccine mosnodenvir.


Mosnodenvir is designed to block interactions between two dengue virus proteins. The vaccine survived J&J’s decision last year to merge its infectious disease and vaccine operations, which saw the likes of a late-stage respiratory syncytial virus program dropped from the Big Pharma’s pipeline and an E. coli vaccine sold off to Sanofi.


Mosnodenvir has had a bumpy ride in the clinic, with J&J terminating one trial due to the effect of COVID-19 on enrollment and pausing recruitment in another study in 2022. But the loyalty to mosnodenvir appeared to pay off in October 2023, when the vaccine was shown to induce a dose-dependent antiviral effect on the detectability and onset of dengue virus serotype 3 in a phase 2 trial.

That data drop doesn’t appear to have been enough to save mosnodenvir for long, with the Big Pharma announcing this morning that it is discontinuing a follow-up phase 2 field study. The decision is related to a “strategic reprioritization of the company’s communicable diseases R&D portfolio,” added J&J, which stressed that no safety issues had been identified.


“Johnson & Johnson will continue to support the fight against dengue by sharing study results with the medical community in the future,” the pharma said in the release.


J&J had been investing in dengue for over a decade, including launching a Satellite Center for Global Health Discovery at the Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore in 2022. The center has been focused on accelerating early-stage discovery research to “address the growing challenge of flaviviruses” such as dengue and Zika.

https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/jj-drops-phase-2-dengue-candidate-part-ongoing-move-away-vaccines

Neuronetics, Greenbrook get interim order for merger

 Neuronetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: STIM) ("Neuronetics") and Greenbrook TMS Inc. (OTCMKTS: GBNHF) ("Greenbrook") today announced that the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) (the "Court") has granted an interim order (the "Interim Order") in connection with the previously announced statutory plan of arrangement under section 182 of the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) (the "Plan of Arrangement"), pursuant to which, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of all applicable conditions precedent, Neuronetics will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Greenbrook ("Greenbrook Shares") in an all-stock transaction (the "Arrangement"). The Interim Order authorizes the calling and holding of a special meeting (the "Greenbrook Special Meeting") of holders of Greenbrook Shares ("Greenbrook Shareholders"), the granting of dissent rights to registered Greenbrook Shareholders and other matters relating to the conduct of the Greenbrook Special Meeting.

Subject to the terms of the Plan of Arrangement, each Greenbrook Share outstanding immediately prior to the effective time of the Arrangement (other than all Greenbrook Shares held by Greenbrook Shareholders who have validly exercised rights of dissent in respect of the Arrangement) is expected to be exchanged for 0.01149 of a share of Neuronetics common stock ("Neuronetics Shares") at the closing of the Arrangement, subject to adjustment for any interim funding by Madryn Asset Management, LP or its affiliates ("Madryn") and other customary adjustments prior to the closing of the Arrangement. Upon completion of the Arrangement, the pre-Arrangement holders of Neuronetics Shares ("Neuronetics Stockholders") and Greenbrook Shareholders are expected to own approximately 57% and 43% of the combined company, respectively, on a fully diluted basis.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/neuronetics-and-greenbrook-tms-announce-receipt-of-interim-order-in-respect-of-proposed-arrangement-and-provide-details-of-shareholder-meetings-302267709.html

Sage cut to Sector Perform from Outperform by RBC

 Target to $4 from $10

https://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=SAGE&ty=c&ta=1&p=d

GSK, Sanofi, CSL said to win $72M U.S. bird flu vaccine contract

 GSK (GSK), Sanofi (SNY), and CSL (CSLLY) win $72M U.S. contract to expand bird flu vaccine production amid fears of human transmission

https://seekingalpha.com/news/4156506-gsk-sanofi-csl-win-us-bird-flu-vaccine-contract

Capricor Touts Long-Term Data from HOPE-2 Open Label Extension Duchenne Study

  Capricor Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CAPR), a biotechnology company developing transformative cell and exosome-based therapeutics for the treatment of rare diseases, announced today that the Company will present the three-year safety and efficacy results from its HOPE-2 open-label extension (OLE) study with lead asset deramiocel for treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The data will highlight the long-term, multi-modal benefits of deramiocel in a late-breaking poster presentation at the 29th Annual Congress of the World Muscle Society (WMS 2024), taking place October 8-12, 2024, in Prague, Czechia.

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/10/04/2958371/0/en/Capricor-Therapeutics-to-Present-Long-Term-Data-from-HOPE-2-Open-Label-Extension-Study-at-2024-World-Muscle-Society-Congress.html

CVS upped to Buy from Hold by TD Cowen

 Target to $85 from $59

https://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=CVS&p=d