Yahoo Finance CASI Pharmaceuticals (CASI) Up on Buyout Offer for China Business
CASI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CASI announced that its board of directors has received a proposal from the chairman of the company for acquiring its business operations in China. Shares of this biopharmaceutical company are soaring in pre-market trading on the news.
CASI Pharmaceuticals is focused on developing and commercializing innovative drugs in China, the United States, and the rest of the world.
Dr. Wei-Wu He, CASI’s chairman of the board and CEO, sent a preliminary non-binding proposal letter, dated Jun 21, 2024, to the company for acquiring its business in China. He also made a proposal to acquire CASI’s all license-in, distribution and related rights in Asia (excluding Japan) related to its pipeline products, including but not limited to Evomela, Folotyn, Cnct19, Bi-1206, Cb-5339, Cid-103 And Thiotepa, for $40.0 million.
The purchase price includes an assumption of up to $20.0 million of debt.
Subsequently, the board has formed a special committee, comprised solely of incumbent independent directors, to evaluate the proposal and other such strategic and business alternatives available to CASI regarding its business operations in China.
The board and the committee cautioned the company’s shareholders and others considering trading the company's securities that no decision has been made concerning the proposal.
Shares of the company have lost 0.7% in the past three months compared with the industry’s decline of 5.8%.
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Concurrently, CASI Pharmaceuticals announced that it is planning to submit an investigational new drug (IND) application to the FDA for CID-103 for the treatment of antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) in kidney transplant recipients by the end of 2024.
The candidate is a fully human IgG1 anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody, recognizing a unique epitope that has demonstrated an encouraging preclinical efficacy and safety profile compared to other anti-CD38 monoclonal antibodies.
The company expects that the proceeds from its private placement financing, together with its existing cash and cash equivalents, should be sufficient to complete the phase II clinical trial for AMR.
CASI has also entered into securities purchase agreements with certain investors for a private investment in public equity financing that is expected to result in aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $15.0 million.
Last month, the company announced that it has received FDA clearance on the IND application for CID-103 in immune thrombocytopenia.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
CASI currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
Some better-ranked stocks from the drug/biotech industry are ALX Oncology Holdings ALXO, Annovis Bio ANVS and Compugen CGEN, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
In the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALX Oncology’s 2024 loss per share has remained constant at $2.89. During the same period, the consensus estimate for 2025 loss per share has remained constant at $2.73.
ALX Oncology’s earnings beat estimates in two of the trailing four quarters and missed twice, delivering an average negative surprise of 8.83%.
In the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Annovis’ 2024 loss per share has remained constant at $2.46. During the same period, the consensus estimate for 2025 loss per share has remained constant at $1.95.
ANVS beat on earnings in three of the trailing four quarters and missed once, delivering an average negative surprise of 1.39%.
In the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Compugen’s 2024 earnings per share has increased from 2 to 5 cents. The consensus estimate for 2025 loss per share is currently pegged at 11 cents. Year to date, shares of CGEN have lost 11.6%.
CGEN’s earnings beat estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed once, delivering an average surprise of 5.79%.
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CASI Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CASI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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