(Yicai) Sept. 24 -- Shanghai RAAS Blood Products will acquire 100 percent of the shares of German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim's biopharmaceuticals unit in China for no more than CNY20 million (USD3 million) in cash, the leading Chinese blood products company said yesterday, citing the agreement signed by both parties that day.

The takeover comes as Shanghai RAAS looks to innovative drugs as its second growth engine amid falling profits across China’s blood products industry since 2025.

The firm is focusing on developing multiple antibody drugs featuring potentially first-in-class new targets and mechanisms in fields including coagulation, autoimmune diseases and inflammation, it said.

Among these is Shanghai RAAS' SR604 injection, the world's first monoclonal antibody targeting activated protein C for the treatment of hemophilia. Its indications for hemophilia A and B have entered Phase III clinical trials.

Boehringer Ingelheim Biopharmaceuticals (China), which is the German firm's biopharmaceutical manufacturing base in Shanghai’s Zhangjiang hi-tech area, has undertaken the technology transfer, process scale-up and production of clinical trial samples for the Phase II and III studies of SR604.

For Ingelheim-based Boehringer Ingelheim, competition in China’s contract development and manufacturing organization sector is intense, with leading players such as WuXi Biologics holding a significant advantage.

Boehringer Ingelheim Biopharmaceuticals (China), which was established in 2014, made a net loss of CNY16.7 million (USD2.5 million) in the first three months on operating revenue of CNY32.5 million (USD4.8 million). Last year it racked up a net loss of CNY259 million (USD38.5 million) on revenue of CNY232 million and in 2024 it had a net loss of CNY73.3 million on operating revenue of CNY586 million (USD87.3 million).

China’s blood products industry has broadly exhibited a "rising revenue but falling profit" trend since 2025. Most companies have continued to see growth in revenue and plasma collection volumes, but profits have generally declined significantly.

Shanghai RAAS’ net profit plunged 35.8 percent in the first half from a year ago to CNY660 million (USD98.3 million), while its operating revenue slumped 18.8 percent to CNY3.2 billion (USD478 million).

Shanghai RAAS’s share price [SHE: 002252] climbed 1 percent today to end the day at CNY5.02 (USD0.75).

Editor: Kim Taylor