Japan drugmaker Shionogi to tie up with Ping An as eyes China expansion

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Shionogi & Co (4507.T), creator of the blockbuster cholesterol treatment Crestor, said on Monday it would tie up with Ping An Insurance Group Co of China (601318.SS), selling a 2.05% voting stake for 33.53 billion yen ($311 million).

Shionogi will form a joint venture with the Chinese group’s unit, Ping An Life Insurance of China Ltd, with the aim of discovering and distributing new drugs and developing generic ones as it looks to expand in China, it said in a statement.

“To attain our growth strategy beyond 2020, we must realize the expansion of our business in China, which is expected to show the greatest pharmaceutical market growth in the world over the next 10 years,” Shionogi said in the statement.

Shionogi, which gains roughly half its revenue from royalties, posted four-straight years of record operating profit through 2019. It focuses on infectious diseases but a looming patent cliff for its HIV treatments will create an earnings gap that will be hard to completely offset.

Ping An Insurance Group, China’s largest insurer by market value, said in February it expected the coronavirus outbreak to affect its business in the first half.

The group’s Good Doctor (1833.HK) subsidiary is ramping up its online doctor consultation business in Asia as the virus spread spurs demand. Japans’ SoftBank Group (9984.T) has invested in Good Doctor and the two formed a healthcare joint venture last year.

Shionogi’s shares rose 2.8% in Tokyo trading before the announcement, versus a 1.6% drop in the broader market.