Daily Brief Health Care: Hangzhou Kangji Medical Instrument Co., Ltd., Guangzhou Innogen Pharmaceutical Group, Baxter International, Ensysce Biosciences , Corcept Therapeutics, Bio-Rad Laboratories A, Longeveron , Ocugen , Ono Pharmaceutical, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and more

• On the 12th August, Kangji Medical (9997 HK) announced an Offer, by way of a Scheme, from a consortium led by TPG and Qatar Investment Authority, together with the founders.
• The 9.9% premium to last close was less than ideal. A change of control premium (30%+) is arguably more commonplace in Asia-Pac. However, the Offer Price is a four-year high.
• I had a number of questions concerning the transaction, and managed to secure a one-on-one with the FA to the Offeror earlier today. 

• Innogen raised HKD 683m (USD 88m) from its global offering and will list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Friday, August 14th.
• In our previous note, we looked at the company’s operation, management track records and discussed the IPO valuation.
• In this note, we provide an update for the IPO before trading debut.

• Baxter International’s second quarter 2025 earnings results portray a complex landscape of solid financial performance alongside challenges in specific sectors.
• Baxter reported sales from continuing operations of $2.8 billion, reflecting a growth of 4% on a reported basis and 1% on an operational basis from the prior year.
• However, this growth remained at the lower end of the company’s expectations, as declines in certain segments, such as the Medical Products & Therapies and Pharmaceuticals, offset the performance of other areas.

• Ensysce Biosciences is committed to finding a solution to the opioid crisis plaguing the US and other developed countries around the world.
• Through its proprietary TAAP technology Ensysce is in the process of receiving approval for an abuse-resistant yet still pain-relieving opioid.
• The company released its 2Q2025 financial results that showed continued progress toward commercialization of an important pain reliever that we believe is critically needed.

• Corcept Therapeutics’ recent earnings call provided a comprehensive overview of its financial performance and strategic developments for the second quarter of 2025.
• The company reported revenue of $194.4 million, a significant increase from the $163.8 million in the same period the previous year.
• This has prompted Corcept to adjust its full-year revenue guidance to a range of $850 million to $900 million.

• Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc.’s (Bio-Rad) second quarter of 2025 results reflect a blend of stability and adverse challenges.
• The company reported net sales of approximately $652 million, a 2.1% increase from the previous year on a reported basis, though just a 1% rise when adjusted for currency fluctuations.
• This performance was largely buoyed by robust sales in the Life Sciences segment, particularly in process chromatography and food safety products.

• Longeveron is focusing on using its primary treatment, laromestrocel, to fight a rare pediatric heart birth defect that devastates families and continues to receive good FDA news regarding its treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease, while also expanding its pipeline.
• The company announced its 2Q 2025 earnings results that showed good cost discipline and improving revenue as ongoing clinical trials pose potential inflection points for LGVN.

Ocugen’s modifier gene therapy (MGT) platform is designed to regulate gene expression to restore visual function across both genetically diverse inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) and retinal conditions with wider prevalence such as geographic atrophy (GA) associated with dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Lead candidate OCU400 is in Phase III studies for retinitis pigmentosa (RP), with a potential FDA biologics license application (BLA) in 2026 and commercialisation in 2027.

• During Q1FY26, Ono Pharmaceutical (4528 JP)  reported revenue of ¥127.5B, an increase of 8% YoY. Opdivo witnessed 8% decrease in revenue to ¥29.4B mainly due to increased competition.  
• Opdivo is facing competition from Keytruda. Ono guided Opdivo revenue in FY26 to be ¥138.5B (Japan: ¥125B, up 4% and Overseas: ¥13.5B, up 3%), up 4% YoY.
• In FY26, Opdivo’s revenue growth will come from indication expansion but smaller addressable patient population remains a concern for long term.

• Regeneron Pharmaceuticals presented a mixed performance for the second quarter of 2025, showcasing robust growth in certain product lines while facing challenges in others.
• Overall, the company reported total revenues of $3.7 billion, marking a year-over-year increase of 4%, primarily buoyed by the impressive sales growth of flagship therapies like Dupixent and Libtayo, as well as the introduction and expansion of EYLEA HD.
• However, the legacy EYLEA product witnessed a significant decline, with U.S. sales dropping 39% from the previous year due to competitive pressures and ongoing shifts toward EYLEA HD.