UCB selling a Chinese business, Tome layoffs

Happy Monday, Pharmalittle family. Adam Feuerstein here, once again filling in for Ed. I have been assured that Ed is staying caffeinated, even in his absence. Let’s take a look at some morning news. 

Belgian drugmaker UCB is selling its Chinese neurology and allergy business to Singapore-based asset management group CBC and Abu Dhabi sovereign investor Mubadala for $680 million, Reuters tells us. The deal involves a portfolio of drugs and a manufacturing facility. UCB said the decision to sell its mature China pharma business will allow it to focus more on developing and launching new medicines for the Chinese market. 

Ecor1 Capital, a biotech hedge fund run by investor Oleg Nodelman, has increased its stake in Galapagos NV, the long-struggling Belgian drugmaker, to 9.9% — a move that indicates Nodelman may take a more active role in the company’s turnaround efforts. Galapagos shares are “deeply undervalued and represent an attractive investment opportunity,” Ecor1 said in a filing Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission that disclosed the firm’s upsized position. Ecor1 intends to communicate with Galapagos’ management and board of directors about a variety of topics relating to the company’s “performance, business, operations, strategic opportunities and governance, including Board composition,” the filing added. Galapagos was once regarded as one of Europe’s most successful inventors of new medicines, but the company has fallen on hard times due to a series of R&D failures, regulatory setbacks, and unproductive partnerships.