Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (600196.SH) further deepens its presence in the field of cell therapy and upgrades its cooperation with Kite Pharma.

On September 13, 2024, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (600196.SH, 02196) announced that its holding subsidiary, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Industry, intends to invest $27 million in cash to acquire 50% of the shares of Kite Pharma held by Kite Pharma. After the completion of this transfer, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical will hold 100% of the shares of Kite Pharma and plans to inject $10 million in cash or an equivalent amount in RMB as a single shareholder to increase the capital of Kite Pharma. On the same day as the signing of the "Equity Transfer Agreement", Kite Pharma and Kite Pharma revisited the original licensing agreement and reached a comprehensive revision and restatement of the "Revised and Restated License Agreement". Under this agreement, Kite Pharma has been granted exclusive rights by Kite Pharma to develop, produce, and commercialize Yescarta and Brexu-Cel (Kite Pharma's research project FKC889) in the region (mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau) and field (cancer treatment field). The announcement shows that Kite Pharma should pay Kite Pharma a total of $10 million in milestone payments for this license, and depending on the achievement of annual net sales of the licensed products, Kite Pharma should pay Kite Pharma up to $25 million in sales milestones. Kite Pharma should pay Kite Pharma a royalty fee ranging from 7% to 13% of the annual net sales of all licensed products in the licensed region. In addition, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical's wholly-owned subsidiary, Kite Pharma, intends to rename to Fosun Care and will serve as the core platform for Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical's cell therapy technology, focusing on oncology immunotherapy and driving CAR-T cell therapy products to benefit more patients and meet unmet clinical needs. In the future, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical and Kite Pharma will continue to maintain a long-term strategic partnership through a license cooperation model. Wu Yifang, Chairman of Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical, said, "Since establishing a strategic partnership with Kite Pharma in 2017, the two parties have closely collaborated to promote the rapid development of CAR-T technology and cell therapy product Yescarta in China. Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical is optimistic about the development prospects of cell therapy and will continue to advance the construction of a globally leading technology platform. In the future, we will further expand the application of cell therapy in the fields of oncology and autoimmunity, focus on unmet clinical needs, fulfill our promises to patients, and bring the benefits of technological innovation to more patients."