Lian Tuo Biotechnology (LIAN.US), which had previously rejected a tender offer from Concentrate, has now decided to directly close its business and delist.
On February 13th, Liantuo Biotechnology announced that its board of directors had completed a comprehensive strategic review of the company and decided to begin closing its operations. It will then sell its remaining pipeline assets and delist from NASDAQ.
At the same time, the board of directors of Liantuo Biotechnology also announced the distribution of a special dividend of $4.8 per share, totaling approximately $528 million. The company plans to lay off more than 50 employees in the first quarter of 2024, accounting for approximately 50% of the total number of employees.
Liantuo Biotechnology is an innovative pharmaceutical company founded and incubated by Perceive Advisors, a US biopharmaceutical investment fund. It was founded in Shanghai in August 2020 and listed on the NASDAQ market in November of the following year. It has grown rapidly through license in, mainly through cooperation with globally renowned biopharmaceutical companies, to introduce advanced therapies and innovative drugs into China and other major Asian markets. Within less than three years of company registration, the company has obtained nine pipelines in five treatment fields through this licensing model.
However, this licensing and introduction model is not as easy as imagined, as the clinical research and commercial promotion of drugs still require a lot of investment. In addition, the investment in new drug research and development is huge, and there is also uncertainty about whether it can achieve timely returns after being launched.
In recent years, Liantuo Biotechnology has also started a "bad luck" business. In August 2020, Liantuo Biotechnology reached a partnership with Myokardia to acquire the development and commercialization rights of the heart specific myosin allosteric inhibitor Mavacamten in China and other Asian regions for approximately $188 million.
In October 2023, Liantuo Biotechnology sold the development and commercialization rights of Mavacamten in China and other Asian regions to BMS. Liantuo Biotechnology will be entitled to a total consideration of $350 million. Between this one in and one out period, Liantuo Biotechnology made a net profit of over 150 million US dollars.
Biotechnology companies continue to require funding for drug research and development. Currently, Chinese biotechnology companies are facing a capital winter, which poses challenges to refinancing. Since 2024, the actions of enterprises to adjust their business have become more intensive, and there are those who choose to sell themselves. For example, since the end of December 2023, Genxi Biotechnology and Xinruinuo Pharmaceutical have been successively acquired by multinational pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca and Novartis Xiangzhong; There are also cases of business closures, such as on February 7, 2024, Tianjing Biotechnology announced the divestment of its assets in China; There are also cases of bankruptcy liquidation, such as the news of the bankruptcy liquidation of Boji Biopharmaceutical Technology (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd. on January 23, 2024, which attracted market attention.
As early as October 2023, Liantuo Biotechnology announced that the board of directors had launched a comprehensive strategic evaluation of the company's business development.
Prior to this adjustment by Liantuo Biotechnology, the company had already rejected a tender offer from Concentrate in December last year, which is Tang Capital, an active investor in the biotech field in recent years. At that time, the reason given by Liantuo Biotechnology was "underestimating the value of the company and not in the best interests of Liantuo Biotechnology and its shareholders.".
Konstantin Poukalov, founder and executive chairman of Liantuo Biotechnology, stated that gradually reducing operations is the way to maximize shareholder value in the current biotechnology market.
Liantuo Biotechnology expects that the company will basically complete the comprehensive closure of its business by 2024 and completely dissolve in the first half of 2027.