AbbVie plans to sue Zejula for infringement in Delaware, BEIGENE China lost over 20 billion in market value in a single day.

Zepotinib is facing a new crisis.

On June 15th, it was reported that international pharmaceutical company AbbVie claimed that BEIGENE (688235.SH) had infringed on its patent for the core product "ibrutinib" and plans to file a lawsuit with the Delaware State Court in the United States.

AbbVie claimed that BEIGENE's core product "Zepotinib" infringes on the rights of "ibrutinib".

It is understood that at the beginning of this year, Zepotinib's two indications for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) were approved by the FDA.

This has also become one of the driving forces for the significant increase in Zepotinib's sales in 2023.

BEIGENE's unaudited financial data disclosed on May 5th showed that Zepotinib's global sales revenue in the first quarter of 2023 reached as high as 1.447 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 118.25%, of which nearly 70% of the revenue came from the US market.

"Bayu Ze (Zepotinib)'s sales growth in the United States is mainly due to the promotion of the listing of indications for adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL)." BEIGENE explained in its financial report.

The "grudges" between Zepotinib and Ibrutinib have been around for a long time.

In order to squeeze AbbVie's market share, BEIGENE conducted a "head-to-head experiment" between Zepotinib and Ibrutinib, and successfully won with a significant advantage in prolonging the progression-free survival of CLL patients.

As a result, Zepotinib's sales in the United States have been smooth sailing.

Market insiders also predict that with the approval of indications in many places, Zepotinib's market share is expected to reach a scale of 5.1 billion US dollars.

"Considering that the indications for CLL/SLL have been approved in the United States, the United Kingdom and other places recently (the number of patients is 2-3 times the total number of approved indications), we expect that the global sales of the product will continue to grow rapidly in the next three years, and the ultimate peak is expected to reach 5.1 billion US dollars." Ding Zhengning, a pharmaceutical industry analyst at Pu Yin International, pointed out.

However, whether AbbVie's lawsuit will break this performance expectation is currently receiving market attention.

The secondary market took the lead in responding-on June 15th, BEIGENE's decline was as high as 14.06%, and its market value evaporated by more than 25 billion yuan in a single day.

TradeWind01 also asked BEIGENE about the potential impact of this incident, but as of the time of publication, no response has been received.