(Yicai Global) June 16 -- BeiGene's stock jumped after the Chinese biotech company responded to a claim that its cancer drug infringed patents, saying its work is original and the firm will defend itself against all such allegations.

After jumping by as much as 7.1 percent in Shanghai earlier today, BeiGene [SHA: 688235] closed 4.6 percent higher at CNY117.42 (USD16.51) a share. Its Hong Kong-traded stock [HKG: 6160] rose 6.1 percent to end at HKD118.80 (USD15.18).

“It is an unfortunate but rather regular occurrence that companies make allegations that a competitive product potentially infringes their intellectual property rights,” Beijing-based BeiGene said today. “Even more so in response to a clearly differentiated medicine for cancer patients as Brukinsa.”

Pharmacyclics, a unit of US pharmaceutical giant AbbVie, filed a complaint against BeiGene and its US arm in Delaware's district court, alleging that Brukinsa infringed Pharmacyclics' patent issued on June 13, reports said yesterday.

BeiGene’s shares sank 14.1 percent in Shanghai and 12.4 percent in Hong Kong yesterday, while its New York stock [NASDAQ: BGNE] fell 3.4 percent to USD201.04 each.

“Most recently, the Alpine study, a head-to-head comparison between Brukinsa and Imbruvica in R/R CLL/SLL, demonstrated Brukinsa's superior efficacy (PFS and ORR) and safety (atrial fibrillation) over Imbruvica,” BeiGene added. “The study also reported zero sudden cardiac death events for Brukinsa versus a 1.9 percent rate for Imbruvica.

“Those results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented as a simultaneous late breaker presentation at the American Society of Hematology meeting in December 2022,” BeiGene pointed out.

AbbVie's Imbruvica and Brukinsa are Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitors for treating hematological tumors. Imbruvica was approved for marketing in the United States in 2013, while Brukinsa was given the green light in November 2019, becoming China's first self-developed cancer drug overseas.

AbbVie's reported claim is likely related to fiercer competition in the BTK inhibitors market. Six such inhibitors have been approved for worldwide marketing, with Imbruvica long having dominated the global market with its early mover advantage. 

Since 2018, Imbruvica's sales have topped USD5 billion a year, while those in 2020 and 2021 above USD9 billion. But with growing competition, sales fell last year for the first time to USD8.4 billion.

BeiGene's Brukinsa has recently expanded its global presence, listing in more than 65 markets. Its global sales soared 159 percent to USD565 million last year from 2021.

Although Brukinsa sales are still far behind AbbVie's Imbruvica, they are growing rapidly, more than doubling to USD211 million in the first three months of this year from a year earlier, accounting for about half of BeiGene's overall sales.

Editor: Martin Kadiev