GSK plans to sell chronic hepatitis B drug in China through Sino Biopharm

May 11 (Reuters) – Britain’s GSK said on Monday it signed a deal with Hong Kong-listed Sino Biopharmaceutical to expand its presence in the growing mainland China market and sell its experimental chronic hepatitis B therapy there.

Under the agreement, Sino’s unit Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical (CTTQ) will buy GSK’s bepirovirsen for supply for an initial term of five and a half years, while the British pharmaceutical firm will book the drug’s sales.

GSK, which did not disclose the value of the Sino deal, has signed several agreements with companies in China, a growing global market. Last year, it agreed a $500 million drug development deal with Hengrui, and in 2023 tied up with Hansoh Pharma for multiple cancer drugs.

Bepirovirsen is key to GSK’s broader plans to accelerate the development of medicines beyond its HIV and vaccines business and deliver a long-term revenue target of more than 40 billion pounds ($54.4 billion) by 2031.

GSK expects to launch bepirovirsen later this year in some markets, with a regulatory decision in China expected in 2027. It expects peak annual sales of more than 2 billion pounds for the drug.

Hepatitis B, or liver inflammation caused by the ‘B’ strain of the hepatitis virus, is estimated to affect 75 million people in China and more than 250 million people worldwide, GSK said.

Bepirovirsen is designed to tackle hepatitis B in three ways: by blocking viral DNA replication, lowering hepatitis B surface antigen levels in the blood, and boosting the immune response to help achieve longer-lasting control of the disease.

More than a million people died as a result of chronic hepatitis B in 2022, according to the World Health Organization.

($1 = 0.7354 pounds)

(Reporting by Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Kate Mayberry)