Fibrogen Gets Regulator’s Green Light To Sell China Unit To AstraZeneca

FibroGen, Inc. (FGEN) on Monday said that a Chinese regulator has approved the sale of its unit FibroGen International (Hong Kong) to AstraZeneca (AZN).

FibroGen had announced the sale of its China unit to AstraZeneca for about $160 million in February. The closing of the transaction is now expected in the third quarter of 2025, the company said.  

The closing of the transaction remains subject to other contractual closing conditions and deliverables, the biopharmaceutical company added. The firm had previously expected the transaction to close by mid-2025. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around FGEN trended in the ‘extremely bullish’ territory over the past 24 hours, while message volume remained at ‘extremely high’ levels.

The company said earlier this year that it would repay its term loan facility to investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Tactical Value following the closing of its transaction in a bid to simplify its capital structure. The transaction is further expected to extend the company’s cash runway into 2027, it added.

Upon closing, AstraZeneca will obtain all rights to Roxadustat in China. Roxadustat is currently approved in China, Europe, Japan, and numerous other countries for the treatment of anemia in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients, irrespective of whether they are on dialysis.

The company is currently considering a development plan for Roxadustat in anemia associated with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndrome in the U.S. Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a group of cancers where bone marrow doesn't produce enough healthy blood cells.

FGEN stock is down by 28% this year but up by about 1% over the past 12 months. 

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