Harbour BioMed stake in US drug developer Spruce shows Chinese firms’ growing clout

Shanghai-based Harbour BioMed’s acquisition of a stake in US-based Spruce Biosciences is the latest example of China’s novel drug developers progressing from one-time licensing deals into long-lasting equity partnerships with overseas partners.

The deal, detailed in a Hong Kong stock exchange filing on Monday, also showed Chinese firms’ growing clout on the global pharmaceutical stage, analysts said.

“The coming years will see more Chinese biotech firms engaging in equity investments and joint development with global pharmaceutical companies, rather than just out-licensing,” said Celia Deng, Asia president at SAI MedPartners.

“Global pharmaceutical giants no longer view Chinese firms as contract manufacturers, but as research and development partners with self-iterating innovation platforms.”

The Shanghai-headquartered drug maker exercised warrants issued under a licensing agreement with Spruce last year, giving it about 3.8 per cent of Spruce’s total outstanding shares and about 3.1 per cent of the fully diluted shares, the filing said.

The share purchase right was granted when Harbour BioMed subsidiary HBM Alpha Therapeutics licensed SPR202 – an early-stage treatment for rare hormone disorders – to Spruce for commercialisation and development outside Greater China.

South China Morning Post