By Fineline Cube 
Reports indicate that China-based Legend Biotech Corporation (NASDAQ: LEGN) plans to disband its China sales team. Despite the remarkable overseas success of its BCMA-targeted chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy Carvykti (ciltacabtagene autoleucel), which generated USD 963 million in global sales in 2024, up 92.7% year-on-year, the product has faced challenges in the Chinese market due to high pricing and failure to secure inclusion in the National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL).
Financial Performance
The strong global sales of Carvykti contributed to narrowing the company’s annual net loss to USD 177 million in 2024, compared to a USD 518.3 million net loss in 2023. However, the commercialization hurdles in China have prompted a strategic re-evaluation.
Partnership and Strategic Shift
In 2017, Legend Bio entered a licensing partnership with US major Johnson & Johnson. Under the agreement, Legend Bio is responsible for market development and commercialization of Carvykti in Greater China, while J&J leads global promotion and supports Greater China efforts. Industry insiders suggest that after disbanding its China sales team, Legend Bio may delegate some commercialization tasks to partners. This move would allow the company to reallocate resources toward R&D and production, its core priorities.
Future Outlook
The company expects to achieve breakeven by late 2025 and turn a profit in 2026. To support this goal, Legend Bio is accelerating production capacity expansion, with plans to double commercial supply volumes by the end of 2025.-Fineline Info & Tech