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Fosun’s Henlius in talks with Johnson & Johnson, Roche on cancer drug

AnyFans 2025-09-19

By Bloomberg

Shanghai Henlius Biotech is in talks with multinational pharmaceutical firms including Johnson & Johnson and Roche Holding about selling them the rights to an experimental cancer drug, people familiar with the matter said.
An agreement could fetch the subsidiary of Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical at least several hundred million dollars up front and then more in milestone payments down the road based on the drug’s performance, the people said. They asked not to be identified because the discussions were private.
Negotiations are ongoing and Henlius could push for a higher figure as more data on the drug’s performance becomes available, the people said. There is also no guarantee that an agreement will be reached, they said.
Talks centre on HLX43, an antibody-drug conjugate targeting a molecule that helps cancer evade detection by the immune system. It is in mid-stage testing in China.
Representatives for J&J and Roche declined to comment. Henlius said the information was inaccurate, though it did not elaborate further.
Henlius shares reversed losses on Tuesday morning following a Bloomberg News report, rising as much as 4.2 per cent in Hong Kong.
There has been a boom in deal making around Chinese biotech firms as global drug makers look to the country for experimental treatments with the potential to become successful products. That has drawn some scrutiny from the Trump administration, with The New York Times reporting last week that the US has been considering restrictions on medicines from China. The Hang Seng Biotech Index slid as much as 8.6 per cent on Thursday following the report.
Henlius Biotech’s shares are up 249 per cent in Hong Kong this year, while Fosun Pharma has climbed 96 per cent. The Hang Seng Biotech Index has risen 100 per cent in 2025.
Henlius Biotech is part of billionaire Guo Guangchang’s conglomerate Fosun International, which has been focusing on developing in areas like healthcare and selling noncore assets after surviving a debt crisis. Other major Fosun operations include retail, tourism, finance and manufacturing.