Daily Brief Health Care: Sciclone Pharmaceuticals, WuXi AppTec, Aspira Women’s Health, OSE Immuno and more

• A little over a year ago, shareholders approved Sciclone Pharmaceuticals (6600 HK)‘s buyback, which lifted GL Capital’s holding to 31.63% from 28.09%, enabling creep provisions.
• After the share price gained 14% yesterday, SciClone was suspended pursuant to the Code on Takeovers and Mergers before trading commenced this morning. Mmm.
• GL Capital, together with CDH Investments, Ascendent Capital Partner, Ocean Falcon Limited, and Boying Investments Limited, took SciClone private in 2017. Time for another privatisation?

• After rising 14% on Monday, Sciclone Pharmaceuticals (6600 HK) entered a trading halt “pending the release of an announcement pursuant to the Code on Takeovers and Mergers.”
• SciClone US was listed on NASDAQ in March 1992 and was privatised in October 2017 by a GL Capital-led consortium. It was relisted on the HKEx on 3 March 2021.
• A GL Capital-led consortium will likely once again lead the privatisation. An offer price at or slightly above the IPO price (HK$18.80) would be sufficient to get the vote up.

• WuXi AppTec’s 2023 results were disappointing. The decline in performance in 23H2 was quite severe. 2024 performance guidance could be meaningless because the biggest concern now is the geopolitical conflicts.
• If the bill is passed, valuation logic would completely change – not based on DCF/PE, but on PB, market value falling below RMB100 billion. We cannot rule out another privatisation.
• We hope that WuXi AppTec can prepare contingency plans for the worst-case scenario that may occur, rather than simply denying or mitigating the impact of BIOSECURE Act on the Company

• Aspira Women’s Health expands senior management team with the addition of Sandra Milligan, MD, JD as President effective April 1, 2024.
• Dr. Milligan will report to CEO Nicole Sandford. She has more than 25 years of experience in the healthcare sector, with corporate experience that includes executive roles at biopharmaceutical companies Amgen, Genentech, Merck, and Organon.
• Dr. Milligan supported pipeline and product development in both oncology and non-oncology disease areas, with recent emphasis in women’s health. 

OSE Immunotherapeutics has announced the completion of patient enrolment in its Phase II CoTikiS trial, marking another step in the clinical development of its novel anti-IL-7R antibody, OSE-127/Lusvertikimab, in moderate to severe ulcerative colitis (UC). Lusvertikimab is OSE’s most advanced immune-inflammation asset, and we view the upcoming top-line efficacy results (from induction to week 10 and after six months of maintenance; expected by mid-2024) as representing a significant inflection point for the company, following the commencement of Phase III trials for its lead asset, Tedopi, in the US. With this news, we see the upward momentum continuing for OSE, which saw an uplift in sentiment following the recent collaboration agreement with AbbVie (up to $713m with $48m upfront payment) to develop its pre-clinical asset OSE-230 in chronic/severe inflammation.