CD19 CAR - T Cell(Peking University People's Hospital)

Fosun Pharma plans to pay $27 million to buy Gilead Sciences' Kite Pharma out of its 50% stake in their Chinese joint venture. Gilead Sciences’ Kite Pharma will sell its stake in China’s Fosun Kite Biotechnology nearly eight years after forming the 50-50 cell-therapy-focused joint venture with Fosun Pharma.Fosun plans to pay $27 million to buy Kite out of its 50% share in Fosun Kite, the Chinese company said in a securities filing (PDF) to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Sept. 13.The transaction will give Fosun full control in China over Yescarta, the star CD19-directed blood cancer therapy that was the first CAR-T therapy approved in China, plus its sister med Tecartus, which is undergoing bridging studies in the country.Kite’s exit from the Fosun JV comes as CAR-T meds continue to navigate patient access and reimbursement dynamics in China. In 2023, Fosun Kite recorded 242 million Chinese yuan ($34 million) in revenue, according to the filing. Relma-cel, a rival CD19 CAR-T drug, brought in 174 million yuan ($25 million) in sales last year.The list price for Yescarta in China is 1.2 million yuan (about $170,000). Although much cheaper than in the U.S., the cost is still astronomical for most Chinese families; China’s annual per capita disposable income last year was about one-thirtieth of that price. Since its approval in June 2021, Yescarta has treated more than 700 large B-cell lymphoma patients in China, according to Fosun Kite’s Website.CAR-T therapies’ high prices make them unlikely to qualify for national coverage under China's state-run insurance scheme.To help with access, Fosun Kite has over the years explored commercial insurance coverage, including a government-devised supplemental insurance program in Shanghai. Such policies have been able to cover up to 42% of the drug's cost, according to the company.And, in January, Fosun Kite worked with (Chinese) a subsidiary of state-run Sinopharm Group to roll out an outcomes-based payment program, offering half of a patient’s out-of-pocket cost back if Yescarta doesn’t induce a complete response by three months. To form the Chinese JV in early 2017, Fosun offered Kite $40 million in an upfront payment and committed $35 million in milestones for Yescarta’s rights in China, plus committed $20 million in initial funding for the new firm. The JV at the time had the option to license additional Kite candidates, including TCR therapies KITE-439 and KITE-718, both of which have since been discontinued at Kite.Now, Fosun said it will invest an additional $10 million in the cell therapy company.After the separation, Kite still grants Fosun rights to Yescarta and Tecartus in China and will supply the viral vectors used to manufacture the products. Kite will also get tiered royalties ranging from 7% to 13% of the drugs’ sales. For Fosun Kite’s pipeline assets, Kite is entitled to 2% to 4% of sales-based royalties if any ever reach the market. Kite’s decision to back out of the JV also follows a recent trend in which foreign pharmas are increasingly leaving management of their products—mostly established medicines—to local companies. Just last month, UCB said it will divest its mature neurology and allergy business in mainland China to local healthcare asset manager CBC Group and Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Mubadala. Days later, Sinopharm’s blood products subsidiary Beijing Tiantan Biological Products disclosed (PDF) that it’s buying a CSL Behring subsidiary in China for $185 million to obtain several albumin and human globulin products.