BeiGene launches $2bn share offering, backed by Amgen
BeiGene announced the plans to offer shares, priced at $14.2 (€12.5) per share, to certain existing investors, with plans to raise $2.07bn (€1.83bn) in capital. The offering is expected to close by July 15.
Two hours after the announcement yesterday, Amgen confirmed that it would invest approximately $421m into BeiGene’s offering, in the process maintaining its 20.3% stake in the company.
Amgen first acquired its stake in BeiGene in October 2019, when the two organizations agreed to collaborate to advance 20 medicines from the former’s portfolio in China and globally, as well as receiving the right to select a member to be appointed to the board of directors.
The deal allowed Amgen to expand its presence in China through BeiGene’s commercialization of its oncology portfolio, with the further investment in BeiGene representing its ‘confidence in the progress’ the two companies are making, the company stated.
For BeiGene’s part, a recent investor presentation showed that the biotech currently has more than 25 assets in its pipeline, a number of which are based on its partnership with Amgen. Of these drug candidates, it holds the global rights to eight.
In addition, BeiGene possesses approved drugs within its portfolio, including Brukinsa (zanubrutinib), which became the first product developed in China to receive approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in November 2019.
At the beginning of this year, the biotech received approval from the China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for tislelizumab, a PD-1 immunotherapy for the treatment of classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Previously, the company signed a deal with BioAtla to develop a CTLA-4 antibody for potential use alongside the immunotherapy, with this combination therapy set to enter Phase I trials.
Alongside the growth of its pipeline, BeiGene stated that is has plans to expand its current team from 350 members to over 650 to work within its R&D platform.
While the biologics site that the company announced in 2017 is currently going through the validation process before becoming fully operational.
