The acquisition of RayzeBio for $4.1 billion has recently set a record for the highest amount of mergers and acquisitions in the nuclear pharmaceutical field by Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS). RayzeBio, which has only been established for three years, has gained the favor of BMS with its leading product development pipeline. Data shows that the domestic nuclear drug market has reached a scale of billions of yuan and is still expanding.
Record breaking $4.1 billion in mergers and acquisitions
BMS has made a move on nuclear medicine, and the company has reached a merger agreement with RayzeBio to acquire RayzeBio in cash at a price of $62.50 per share, with a premium rate of 105% and a total equity value of approximately $4.1 billion. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of this year. This acquisition news is highly regarded by the industry. On the day of its release, RayzeBio's stock price rose by over 100% and reached a historic high of $62.1.
RayzeBio, founded in 2020, was recognized by well-known companies after just three years of establishment and less than four months of landing on NASDAQ. Its research product pipeline is a major highlight of the company.
As a clinical stage radiopharmaceutical therapy company, RayzeBio is at the forefront of innovation in the field of actinide (Ac) based radiopharmaceutical therapy. Its research projects involve indications for gastrointestinal pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP NETs), small cell lung cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, and other cancers. RYZ101 has made the fastest progress among them. As a nuclide coupled drug (RDC) targeting somatostatin receptor 2 (SSTR), this product selects α Particle radioactive isotope actinium-225 (Ac225) as a nuclide, compared to traditional nuclear medicine selection β Compared to particles, α Particles can provide up to 400 times more energy, making it easier to break DNA double strands, better killing tumor cells, and potentially safer. At present, the clinical trial of RYZ101 for SSTR positive gastrointestinal pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors has entered phase 3, and the drug is expected to become the world's first actinium-225 nuclear drug.
Billion dollar market is expanding
Nuclear medicine, also known as radiation therapy, refers to a special class of drugs containing radioactive isotopes for medical diagnosis and treatment, mainly including diagnostic and therapeutic radioactive drugs. Diagnostic products have always dominated the market. With the launch of Novartis's nuclide coupled drug therapy drug Luthera in 2018, RDC therapy drugs began to become a research and development hotspot.
In recent years, therapeutic drugs have been approved one after another. Data shows that since 2016, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved 9 RDC drugs, including 2 therapeutic RDCs, all from Novartis. Among them, Luthera, which was approved in 2018, achieved a revenue of 441 million US dollars in the year following its listing. In addition, Bayer also has the prostate cancer drug Xofigo in the field of nuclear medicine, and several pharmaceutical giants such as AstraZeneca, Merck, and Lilly have set up their presence in this field. Data shows that the global market for nuclear drugs currently exceeds billions of dollars, with therapeutic drugs accounting for about 20%. However, the industry generally believes that with the entry of multiple giants, this market will show explosive growth.
In recent years, the domestic radiopharmaceutical market has also been continuously expanding. Yang Zhi, Director of Nuclear Medicine at Peking University Cancer Hospital, has publicly stated that since 2018, the domestic radioactive drug industry has accelerated mergers and acquisitions, highlighting the value of nuclear drugs. In 2018, the Chinese nuclear medicine market was approximately 5 billion yuan, and is expected to reach 11 billion yuan by 2022, with a compound annual growth rate of 20%.
According to the "Report on the Development Trend and Investment Decision Suggestions of China's Radiopharmaceutical Industry from 2021 to 2027", the output value of radioactive drugs in China increased year by year from 2014 to 2019. In 2019, the output value of radioactive drugs in China was 3.611 billion yuan, an increase of 12.79% year-on-year from 2.994 billion yuan in 2018. According to this estimate, the size of China's radioactive drug market is expected to reach 7.8 billion yuan by 2023.
At the market level, China Tongfu and Dongcheng Pharmaceutical are the main representatives of the domestic nuclear medicine market, with a focus on traditional drugs such as iodine [131I] oral solution. Yuanda Pharmaceutical is currently one of the fastest-growing enterprises. The company has also established a radioactive drug diagnosis and treatment platform with SIR Spheres Yttrium [90Y] microsphere injection as its core, with 10 products and indications covering multiple cancer types. Another innovative pharmaceutical enterprise engaged in the research and development, production, and clinical academic promotion of radioactive drugs, Xiantong Pharmaceutical, completed a D-round financing of 320 million yuan in February 2021.
The regulatory authorities have also taken action. The Notice on Deepening the Reform of "Separation of Certificates and Licenses" and Further Stimulating the Development Vitality of Market Entities points out that the approval authority of radioactive drug production and operation enterprises is delegated by the National Medical Products Administration and the National Defense Science and Technology Industry Administration to provincial-level drug supervision and management departments and provincial-level defense science and technology industry management departments. Starting from July 1, 2021, the approval of radioactive drug production and operation enterprises also needs to be organized and implemented by the provincial drug supervision and management department and the provincial defense science and technology industry management department in their respective regions.
New Beijing News reporter Zhang Xiulan