The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) wants to make a name for China science by moving into the front rank of stem cell research (see story). To accomplish this, the CAS has set up a formal research platform and base for stem cell and regenerative medicine research with Qi Zhou, PhD, Institute of Zoology, CAS, as chief scientist. The platform named four core research centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Kunming as the base of the platform, and it will complete the platform by adding the resources of 17 additional research institutions around the country.

Tian Xu, PhD, is an accomplished China transplant with impeccable credentials in the world of US genetic research (see story). He is Vice-Chairman of Genetics at Yale University, and he is also an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Yet, he is conducting research at Fudan University, which funded the Mouse Functional Genome Project after the US passed on the huge, but important endeavor, as The New York Times noted in a recent article. Although the story seemed to surprise the Times, Dr. Xu is part of the larger returnee phenomenon that has seen a growing number of scientists find their way back to the PRC in recent years.

Deals and Transactions

Fosun Pharmaceutical bought a 75% stake in Dalian Aleph Biomedical, a vaccine maker, at a price reported as $102.4 million (see story). Established in 2002, Aleph’s major product is an inactivated split flu vaccine.

Zhejiang Jolly Pharmaceutical (SZ: 300181) expects to raise $71.3 million in its IPO, which is being conducted on the ChiNext exchange in Shenzhen (see story). The company will issue 20 million shares at a price of 23.5 RMB each ($3.57). Jolly produces TCMs through a fungal fermentation technique.
http://www.chinabiotoday.com/articles/20110211

Changzhou Qianhong Biopharma (SZ: 002550) announced plans to IPO on the Shenzhen exchange (see story). The company, which started the subscription process this week, will offer 40 million shares. Of these, 32 million shares will be available online. After the offering, Qianhong will have 160 million shares outstanding.

Product Collaborations and Agreements

Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceuticals (SH: 600521) reached a deal to supply APIs and drug intermediates to the Sandoz division of Novartis (NYSE: NVS) (see story). Sandoz is Novartis’ generic drug arm.
http://www.chinabiotoday.com/articles/20110209_1

Aushon BioSystems, a US company that develops multiplex immunoassay products, plans to collaborate with Peking University Cancer Hospital (PUCH) in Beijing (see story). The collaboration will seek to develop predictive diagnostic markers for liver metastases of colorectal cancer. The two entities will use Aushon’s proprietary protein biomarker detection technologies, and stratification biomarkers for radio-chemotherapy patients.

Trials and Approvals

Takeda Pharma (TSE: 4502) of Japan started enrolling patients in a Phase III trial conducted in China of alogliptin, an oral treatment for type 2 diabetes (see story). Alogliptin is a dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-4) inhibitor. So far, the drug has been approved for use in Japan, where it was launched as Nesina.

NS8, an Israeli pharmaceutical firm, announced the China launch of sertraline, an antidepressant of the SSRI class commonly known as Zoloft (see story). NS8 recently received SFDA approval from the SFDA for 50mg and 100mg tablets of the drug. The company said it is filing several additional ANDAs for new drugs, including some technologically challenging products.

Disclosure: none.