Merck forks out US$2b for Chinese heart drug

Merck will pay as much as US$2 billion (HK$15.6 billion) for the rights to Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals's experimental heart drug, the US drugmaker's second recent foray into China for a novel medicine.

Under the agreement, Merck will pay US$200 million up front to develop and commercialize Hengrui Pharma's pill, now in mid-stage human trials.

Merck has promised another US$1.77 billion tied to regulatory and commercial goals, along with sales royalties. Hengrui will retain ownership of the drug for the Chinese market.

Hengrui filed to list its shares in Hong Kong in January and the share sale could fetch at least US$2 billion, people familiar with the situation have said.

Separately, WuXi Biologics's (2269) net profit fall narrowed to 1.3 percent last year after the non-Covid revenue jumped 13.1 percent. The biotech company reported an earnings of 3.36 billion yuan (HK$3.6 billion), following a 23.1 percent slump in net profit in 2023.

Bloomberg and staff reporter