SHANGHAI, Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Sanofi (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY), a global healthcare leader and JHL Biotech, Inc. (6540.TWO), a biopharmaceutical company with development and manufacturing facilities in Wuhan and Taiwan, announced today a strategic alliance to collaborate on the development and commercialization of biological therapeutics in China and with potential international expansion.
Under the agreement, Sanofi will invest US$80 million in newly issued JHL shares at NT$90 per share. In addition, Sanofi will make an upfront payment of US$21 million to acquire exclusive rights for the proposed biosimilar of Rituximab and options to certain JHL pipeline products. JHL will lead the development, registration, and manufacturing activities while Sanofi will lead commercialization efforts in China. JHL is entitled to receive milestones of up to US$236 million and sales royalties.
The collaboration brings together complementary capabilities of the two companies and represents a commitment to expanding patient access to affordable high quality modern therapies through local development of biologics in China.
"Today is a turning point in JHL's history," said Racho Jordanov, Co-Founder and CEO of JHL Biotech, "JHL was built on the foundation of world-class biologics capabilities. In our alliance with Sanofi, we are combining JHL's development and manufacturing expertise with Sanofi's strengths in commercialization. Together, we will make high-quality medicines affordable to more patients in China."
"The alliance reflects Sanofi's long-term commitment to invest in China and to provide access to high quality therapeutics to Chinese patients," said Dr.Jean-Luc Lowinski, President of Sanofi China and SVP of Sanofi Asia, "JHL has quickly developed leading capabilities in the development of biologics and I am confident that our alliance will positively impact lives of patients in areas of high unmet medical needs in China."
About Sanofi
Sanofi, a global healthcare leader, discovers, develops, and distributes therapeutic solutions focused on patients' needs. Sanofi is organized into five global business units: Diabetes and Cardiovascular, General Medicines and Emerging Markets, Sanofi Genzyme, Sanofi Pasteur and Merial. Sanofi is listed in Paris (EURONEXT: SAN) and in New York (NYSE: SNY).
For more information, please visit www.sanofi.com.
About Sanofi China
In 1982, Sanofi opened its first office in China. Sanofi China has a diversified business that ranges from pharmaceuticals, vaccines, consumer healthcare and rare diseases (Genzyme) to animal health (Merial). Sanofi's China headquarters in Shanghai are supported by 11 branches in Beijing, Tianjin, Shenyang, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Wuhan, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Jinan and Urumqi. As of 2015, Sanofi had more than 9,000 employees in China.
Sanofi has seven manufacturing facilities in China to meet the increasing demand of the China market. These plants are located in Beijing, Hangzhou (two plants), Tangshan, Shenzhen, Nanchang and Nanjing.
With Shanghai as headquarter of Sanofi China R&D and Asia Pacific R&D Hub, Sanofi's capabilities span the entire R&D value chain from drug target identification to late-stage clinical studies. Sanofi focuses on China and Asia Pacific's unmet medical needs, such as liver diseases, diabetes, oncology and cardiovascular diseases.
For more information, please visit www.sanofi.cn.
About JHL Biotech
JHL Biotech Inc. (Stock Code: 6540.TWO) is a biopharmaceutical startup founded by a group of industry veterans with deep experience in pharmaceutical development and operations. JHL is backed by premier financial firms, including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Sequoia Capital, Biomark Capital, Milestone Capital, Fidelity, and the China Development Industrial Bank. JHL Biotech's mission is to provide the world with low-cost medicines of exceptional quality. JHL is focused on research and development of new protein-based therapies and biosimilars. JHL Biotech has two world-class facilities built in accordance with United States, European Union, and ICH cGMP regulations and standards. The JHL Center of Excellence in Taiwan does biosimilar pre-clinical and early-clinical phase development. JHL's facility in Wuhan, China executes commercial-scale manufacturing of biologic therapies. This infrastructure gives JHL the unique ability to manufacture its own product and execute contract work on behalf of select clients. For more information, please visit www.jhlbiotech.com.
Sanofi Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. These statements include projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives, intentions and expectations with respect to future financial results, events, operations, services, product development and potential, and statements regarding future performance. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "plans" and similar expressions. Although Sanofi's management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, investors are cautioned that forward-looking information and statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of Sanofi, that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, future clinical data and analysis, including post marketing, decisions by regulatory authorities, such as the FDA or the EMA, regarding whether and when to approve any drug, device or biological application that may be filed for any such product candidates as well as their decisions regarding labeling and other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of such product candidates, the absence of guarantee that the product candidates if approved will be commercially successful, the future approval and commercial success of therapeutic alternatives, the Group's ability to benefit from external growth opportunities, trends in exchange rates and prevailing interest rates, the impact of cost containment policies and subsequent changes thereto, the average number of shares outstanding as well as those discussed or identified in the public filings with the SEC and the AMF made by Sanofi, including those listed under "Risk Factors" and "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" in Sanofi's annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2015. Other than as required by applicable law, Sanofi does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information or statements.
