Situation Assessment

• Ascentage Pharma (6855.HK) is a Chinese biopharmaceutical company focused on identifying, developing and commercializing novel treatments in hematological diseases
• Ascentage’s lead product, olverembatinib, is a BCR-ABL Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (TKI) approved in China for TKI-resistant CML and is in global Phase 3 studies in CML and Ph+ ALL
• Ascentage was interested in maximizing deal value and had already been in discussions with Takeda and engaged Locust Walk in Jan 2024 to run a process to generate competitive tension and support the deal negotiations

Key Activities

• Developed marketing materials and conducted an outreach process to a select group of potential strategic pharma partners
• Offered strategic advice and senior-level connectivity that improved deal valuation and structure
• Worked as an extension of the Ascentage business development team to provide quantitative and qualitative research and analysis to support deal negotiations
• Facilitated due diligence process across functional areas
• Engaged in negotiations of the term sheets and deal documents identifying key business terms that were essential to a successful deal
• Worked in collaboration with legal and business development teams to drive the transaction on an accelerated timeline to a successful close

Successful Outcome

• Drove deal to a close on a rapid timeline, Locust Walk started the engagement in January 2024 and deal closed in under five months
• Negotiated favorable deal terms, resulting in a $75M equity investment that was not included in the previous bid and increased downstream value
• Secured additional cash for Ascentage to fully support its extensive development plan and R&D spend for the program, which was covered by deal terms

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