(Yicai) Feb. 21 -- FibroGen, which is partnered with AstraZeneca on the roxadustat anemia treatment in China, said the US biopharmaceutical firm will sell its China subsidiary to the UK-Swedish drug giant for around USD160 million.

Under the agreement, FibroGen will keep about USD75 million of cash held in China along with an USD85 million payment from AstraZeneca, enabling it to repay a loan from investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Tactical Value and extending its cash runway into 2027, the California-based firm announced yesterday.

The sale of FibroGen China “strengthens our financial position,” FibroGen Chief Executive Thane Wettig said. It will enable the company to advance clinical development of FG-3246, its first-in-class, CD46 targeting antibody-drug conjugate, and FG-3180, its companion PET imaging agent, in mCRPC, he added.

The sale is expected to be completed by the middle of this year, pending regulatory approval in China, the company said.

AstraZeneca will obtain the full rights to roxadustat in China, FibroGen said, adding that it will retain the US and other unlicensed market rights and continue to evaluate a development plan for the drug in anemia associated with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndrome.

Roxadustat is a first-in-class oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor. In 2013, AstraZeneca secured the development and commercialization rights for the treatment in the United States, China, and regions not licensed to Japan's Astellas Pharma for USD815 million. 

Since roxadustat received approval in China in December 2018, AstraZeneca has been actively promoting the drug, which logged USD284 million in sales in 2023. However, FibroGen terminated the collaboration with AstraZeneca about a year ago, reclaiming the rights to the drug in the US and other regions except China and Korea. 

FibroGen continues to develop new indications for roxadustat, including anemia caused by chemotherapy, with the application under review by China's National Medical Products Administration.

"This acquisition enriches our product portfolio in China and expands our investment in the Chinese pharmaceutical market," said Lin Xiao, general manager of AstraZeneca China. "We look forward to the regulatory decision on roxadustat for chemotherapy-induced anemia in early 2025."

The deal will not accelerate the timeline for FibroGen's Phase II trial of FG-3246 in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, which is set to begin next quarter, the firm's executives noted on a conference call yesterday.

FibroGen also plans to meet with the US Food and Drug Administration in the second quarter of this year to discuss the development pathway for roxadustat in LR-MDS.

Editor: Martin Kadiev