Bristol Myers Squibb Files Prospectus for Sale of 60% Stake in China's First Sino-U.S. Joint Venture Pharmaceutical Company

Interface News reporter |Huang Hua

Interface News Editor |Xie Xin

On September 15, Jiemian News learned from Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) that BMS has signed an agreement to sell its 60% equity stake in Sino-American Shanghai Squibb Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (referred to as "SASS factory").

Bristol-Myers Squibb simultaneously told Jiemian News that its firm commitment to the Chinese market remains unchanged, and it will continue to invest in China under the guidance of the company's "China 2030 Strategy." In the future, Bristol-Myers Squibb will remain dedicated to accelerating the introduction of innovative cutting-edge therapies across a wide range of disease areas, while fully enhancing drug accessibility to better serve patients in China.

According to Tianyancha, Sino-American Shanghai Squibb Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Sino-American Shanghai Squibb") is currently 60% held by Bristol-Myers Squibb (China) Investment Co., Ltd., with the remaining shares held bySPHHolding 30% of the shares, and Sinopharm Group Asset Management Co., Ltd. holding 10%.

Among them, Entecavir is a drug for hepatitis B treatment, Cefradine Capsules are antibiotics, Acetaminophen Drops and Phenylephrine Pseudoephedrine Tablets are commonly used drugs for colds and fever, while Fosinopril Sodium Tablets and Metformin Hydrochloride Tablets are both antihypertensive drugs.

Among the aforementioned products, there are no lack of original research drug products with significant recognition in China. According to the official website of Bristol-Myers Squibb, the trade name of the company's Entecavir Tablets in China is "Baraclude," the trade name of Fosinopril Sodium Tablets is "Monopril," and Cefradine Capsules are known as "Panoral." Additionally, Paracetamol Drops and Paracetamol Oral Solution are the well-known "Bufferin."

Industry sources revealed that the relevant shares for this acquisition were purchased by Hillhouse Capital. However, Bristol-Myers Squibb did not mention the identity of the acquirer in its response to Interface News. On the evening of September 12, Hillhouse Capital did not deny the news that it would soon hold shares of BMS Sino-American Shanghai Pharmaceuticals. In response to Interface News, they stated that they had no comment on the aforementioned event.

In recent years, there have been quite a few cases of equity changes in Sino-foreign joint venture pharmaceutical companies. For instance, in September 2023, Johnson & Johnson announced a brand update, integrating its two major businesses—medical technology and pharmaceuticals—under the Johnson & Johnson name. The company's pharmaceutical business, Janssen, will be renamed Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine.

In China, Xian Janssen is one of the earliest multinational pharmaceutical companies to enter the market. In 1985, Janssen, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, partnered with four Chinese pharmaceutical companies—Shaanxi Provincial Pharmaceutical Corporation, Shaanxi Hanzhong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.,China MedicineIndustrial companies and China National Pharmaceutical Foreign Trade Corporation jointly invested 290 million yuan to establish Xian Janssen.

In July this year, Sino-American SmithKline also exited the historical stage. Sino-American SmithKline was established in 1987 by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and the former Tianjin Zhongxin Pharmaceutical Group (Tianjin Pharmaceutical).Da Ren TangGroup), Tianjin Taiping Group, and others jointly established.

In July this year, Haleon announced that it had completed the acquisition of the remaining 12% stake in its over-the-counter joint venture, Sino-American Tianjin SmithKline Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Sino-American SmithKline"). Haleon has completed the acquisition of all 45% of the original Chinese-owned shares, making Sino-American SmithKline officially become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Haleon, ending nearly 40 years of joint venture history. Haleon was formed from the spin-off of GlaxoSmithKline's consumer healthcare business.

Compared with Xian Janssen and Sino-American SmithKline, Sino-American Shanghai Squibb was established earlier. In 1982, Sino-American Shanghai Squibb Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. was founded, being the first Sino-American joint venture pharmaceutical enterprise in China after the reform and opening up.

In China, Sino-American Shanghai Squibb has contributed many well-known products to the public, especially in the fields of antihypertensive drugs and antibiotics.

For example, the original research metformin hydrochloride tablets, with the Chinese trade name "Glucophage," were originally developed by Merck Serono and first approved by the U.S. FDA in 1994. They entered the Chinese market in 1999, and the production and sales of this product are handled by Sino-American Shanghai Squibb Pharmaceutical.

For example, cefprozil tablets, a representative product of the second-generation cephalosporins, have the Chinese brand name "Shifujie." This product was launched in 1992 and was the first oral cephalosporin antibiotic approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating otitis media and sinusitis in children. Meanwhile, cefradine capsules (brand name "Fanjiefu"), a first-generation cephalosporin, and cefepime (brand name "Maxipime"), a fourth-generation cephalosporin, are also products from the same company.

In addition, in the field of healthcare products and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, Bristol-Myers Squibb introduced **Centrum®** — the first oral multivitamin tablet in China, which was launched in 1991. Later, other products such as **Surek®** and **Little Surek®** were also marketed in China. There is also the **Bufferin®** series — including **Day & Night Bufferin®** for adult colds, **Bufferin Plus®** for adult pain relief, and **Children's Bufferin®** for children’s fever reduction, making it one of the earliest compound OTC antipyretic and analgesic brands introduced in China.

Sino-American Shanghai Squibb has also brought many new experiences to China's pharmaceuticals industry, helping China embark on the professionalization of medical representatives. For instance, it was the first pharmaceutical enterprise to establish a professional medical sales team, pioneered the academic promotion model for hospital doctors, and built one of the first over-the-counter drug promotion teams in China.

Moreover, Sino-American Shanghai Squibb was the first joint venture to pass the certification of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and export Western medicine preparations to the United States.

In recent years, Bristol-Myers Squibb's development in China has been significantly affected by the centralized procurement policy. Whether it is antihypertensive drugs or antibiotics, the R&D and production capabilities of local pharmaceutical companies have been improving, forcing multinational pharmaceutical companies to seek new growth strategies. In early December 2016, Sino-American Shanghai Squibb officially announced the dissolution of its over-the-counter (OTC) business and team at the InterContinental Hangzhou Hotel. The company’s OTC products will cease active promotion in the Chinese market.

But on the other hand, Bristol-Myers Squibb was one of the first multinational pharmaceutical companies to begin transitioning to a diversified biopharmaceutical strategy in China. Its operations in China focus primarily on major disease areas such as oncology, hematology, and immunology. Key drugs include: O drug, known by its Chinese trade name Opdivo® (nivolumab injection), which was the first PD-1 immune-oncology drug approved in China when it launched in June 2018; and Y drug, known by its Chinese trade name Yervoy® (ipilimumab injection), the world’s first CTLA-4 inhibitor, which officially launched in China in October 2021.

In July this year, Qian Jiang assumed the position of General Manager of BMS China. Before joining Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) as the General Manager for China, Qian Jiang had also worked at multinational pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer, Novartis, and Eli Lilly. Around the same time, Chen Siyuan, Vice President of Bristol-Myers Squibb, General Manager of China and Asian Regional Markets, and President of BMS China, will transition to become the Head of International Business for RayzeBio, a BMS radiopharmaceutical subsidiary.