(Yicai Global) Jan. 5 -- Shares of Junshi Biosciences fell for a second day in a row after the biopharmaceutical firm said it had terminated the cooperation with AstraZeneca that allowed the global drugs giant to market the Chinese firm’s pioneering treatment for bladder cancer in China.

Junshi Biosciences [SHA: 688180] closed 3.6 percent lower in Shanghai today at CNY58.15 (USD9.14), after slumping 10 percent yesterday. Its Hong Kong-listed shares [HKG: 1877] fell 2.4 percent to HKD45.55 (USD5.84). They lost 16.9 percent yesterday.

AstraZeneca will no longer market Toripalimab, China’s first approved PD-1 product to treat urothelial carcinoma, a type of bladder cancer, as Junshi has improved its commercialization capabilities and can now handle promotion of the drug by itself, the Shanghai-based company said in a statement yesterday.

Junshi penned the deal with AstraZeneca at the end of last February, granting the latter exclusive promotion rights for Toripalimab in China. Ending the cooperation will not have an adverse impact on Junshi’s financial status or operating results, it said.

Toripalimab’s sales are mostly concentrated in core urban areas, Junshi added, noting that the drug’s promotion was also boosted by two of its uses being included in the latest version of China’s national medical insurance system last year.

PD-1 is a new type of therapy that uses a patient's immune system to fight cancer. Toripalimab has been approved in China to treat melanoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma, while the developer is studying its uses in combating more than 10 other types of tumors.

Editor: Futura Costaglione