Biopharmaceutical company Adocia announced on Wednesday that its Chinese partner Tonghua Dongbao has decided to terminate one of their two programs conducted in partnership in the treatment of diabetes.

This licensing agreement, concluded in 2018, concerned Adocia's combination of basal and rapid-acting insulin, known as BioChaperone Combo.

As a result, the Lyon-based company will regain full rights to BioChaperone Combo.

Quoted in a press release, Jiahong Li, chairman of Tonghua Dongbao, justifies this decision by the desire to focus on other projects benefiting from more favorable market conditions.

In particular, the Chinese laboratory is said to be suffering from intense competition from biosimilars, with which fixed insulin combinations are confronted.

Tonghua Dongbao assures us, however, that Adocia remains a "major strategic partner" for his company, since BioChaperone Lispro, their second project in partnership, should see its phase 3 program completed this year.

Adocia stresses that Tonghua Dongbao's decision will have no impact on its cash flow horizon, which remains unchanged at the third quarter of 2025, even though the company will have to forego a milestone payment of $10 million which was expected in 2024.

Following these announcements, Adocia's share price dropped by more than 8% on Wednesday morning on the Paris Bourse.

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