LianBio announced that the Company?s Board of Directors (the ?Board?) had completed its comprehensive strategic review of the Company and determined to initiate the wind down of its operations, including the sale of remaining pipeline assets, the delisting of its American Depositary Shares (?ADSs?), each representing the right to receive one ordinary share, from the Nasdaq Global Market (?Nasdaq?) and deregistration under Section 12(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the ?Exchange Act?) and workforce reductions. The Company currently anticipates a substantial portion of the wind down activities, including fulfillment of transition service obligations under its existing agreements and gradual cessation of currently active clinical trials, will be completed by the end of 2024. In parallel with the wind down of operations, the Board has declared a special cash dividend in the amount of $4.80 per ordinary share, including ordinary shares represented by ADSs, for an aggregate cash dividend amount of approximately $528 million.

?In October 2023, the Board of Directors initiated a comprehensive strategic review of the Company, including numerous options for the future of the Company, as our commitment to represent the best interests of LianBio and shareholders,? said Konstantin Poukalov, Founder and Executive Chairman of LianBio?s Board. ?Following the shift in focus away from mavacamten commercialization and the licensing of rights to NBTXR3 to Janssen, the Board unanimously decided that winding down operations is the way to realize maximum shareholder value in the current biotech market.?

In accordance with the strategic review, the following actions will be taken: Wind Down and Workforce Reduction LianBio will begin to wind down operations immediately and intends to pursue the sale of its remaining pipeline assets as part of the wind down process. To the extent such sales are successful, the Company expects to distribute any profits from the sales to its then-current shareholders in a subsequent distribution before the final dissolution of the Company. However, there is no guarantee that any shareholder?s original investment, or any material amount, will be recovered.

With reduced operations, the Company expects to reduce its workforce by over 50 full-time employees, or approximately 50% of the Company?s current employee base, in the first quarter of 2024. Additional workforce reductions will occur over the course of 2024 following the transition of assets to partners and the fulfillment of the Company?s transition services obligations. The Company will maintain a core group of employees necessary to implement an orderly wind down of the Company and support its efforts to maximize the value of the Company?s remaining business and assets.

LianBio expects that the full wind down of operations, including the sale of remaining assets or termination of licenses, as well as the termination of employees necessary to complete an orderly wind down, will be substantially complete by the end of 2024, with the complete dissolution expected to occur during the first half of 2027. The Company expects to meet its ongoing operational costs through funds retained after the special dividend.