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The Week in Review: ASLAN Pharma – Leveraging Asia Pacific’s CROs

publication date: Nov 19, 2011
 | 
author/source: Richard Daverman, PhD
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Two years ago, Carl Firth, PhD, MBA, was scrutinizing the possibilities implicit in Asia’s drug development scene. That led Firth to a very non-rhetorical question: “What can we do to leverage all these high quality assets?” he asked. The answer to that question is ASLAN Pharmaceuticals, a Singapore-based drug development startup with a virtual business model (see story). In its first 18 months, ASLAN has completed its first round of fund raising, in-licensed two drug candidates, and, according to Dr. Firth in an exclusive ChinaBio® Today interview, a third deal will be announced soon.

Deals and Financings

Beijing Tiantan Biological Products (SHA: 600161) received $23.73 million in backing from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop oral polio vaccines (see story). Tiantan will supply the oral polio vaccine to UNICEF, after the vaccine has been certified by the World Health Organization.

BGI, formerly known as the Beijing Genomics Institute, has established a joint institute with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (see story). The partnership, which will be called BGI@CHOP, will seek to determine genetic causes of both rare and common pediatric diseases using the Philadelphia Hospital’s biobank and expertise in clinical phenotyping.

Lepu Medical Technology (Beijing) (SHE: 300003), which makes medical devices for coronary artery intervention and anesthesia delivery, will spend $6.6 million to purchase a 70% share in Comed, a Dutch company that makes medical devices used to treat cardiovascular diseases (see story). Lepu Medical also announced it will spend $7.5 million to establish a Dutch Cooperative (Coop) in the Netherlands, which will presumably own the Comed stake.

Big Pharma in China

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) will delay the buildout of its Shanghai Anti-Infectives Research Unit (see story). Earlier, an internet report stated the China research program had been cancelled. In February of this year, Pfizer announced it would close its Anti-Infectives unit in Groton, Conn. and transfer the operation to Shanghai. The move was supposed to take up to two years. Now, Pfizer says the timeline is extended, though the company has not announced a new schedule.

Novartis (NYSE: NVS) will spend $25 million to enlarge a manufacturing facility in Zhongshan city, Guangdong Province (see story). The plant, which produces drugs for Sandoz, Novartis’ generic subsidiary, will be the largest facility devoted to generics in China. Novartis signed a MOU with the government of Zhongshan earlier this week.

Trials and Approvals

Hutchison MediPharma, the drug discovery arm of Chi-Med (AIM: HCM), has begun a first-in-human Phase I clinical trial of epitinib (HMPL-813), the third of MediPharma’s oncology compounds to enter clinical testing (see story). Epitinib is a novel, second generation, orally active, small molecule inhibitor targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). MediPharma hopes epitinib will prove to be effective against brain tumors that have EGFR mutations, either primary brain tumors or tumors metastasized to the brain.

Government and Regulatory

The SFDA has announced it will begin inspecting foreign drug makers whose products are imported into China (see story). The initial batch, mainly volunteers, will consist of five to ten foreign drug makers from five different countries. These companies signed up because they want to help the SFDA refine its inspection skills. The move reflects China’s desire to bring its drug regulation system up to international standards.

Disclosure: none.

 

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