Deals and Financings

Shenzhen Beike Biotechnology acquired China rights to a novel cancer immunotherapy developed by Altor BioScience of Florida (see story). ALT-803 is Altor’s proprietary Interleukin-15 (IL-15) based superagonist complex that is currently in four US Phase I/II clinical trials. Beike made an upfront payment of $4 million and invested another $5 million in Altor. Beike also agreed to a package of over $200 million in development and sales milestones and will pay a tiered double-digit royalty on sales. 

OrbiMed Advisors closed its pan-Asia healthcare fund, OrbiMed Asia Partners II L.P., with $325 million in capital (see story). That is much higher than the $188 million raised for the company's first Asia fund and slightly above the $300 million target. OrbiMed plans to make between 15 and 20 investments from the fund with a $40 million cap on any one transaction. However, if appropriate, OrbiMed's global fund could contribute and bring the total up to $100 million. 

Institute Curie, a major French medical research center and hospital, will partner with a Shenzhen investor to build a large, international cancer-focused hospital in the Qianhai area of Shenzhen (see story). The total cost for the facility will be $486 million. The investor, Shenzhen Qianhai Zhongtian Kecheng Investment Management, said the 1,000-bed hospital will have a pay-back of six years. The hospital will be called the Shenzhen Curie (France) Cancer Treatment and Rehabilitation Center. 

Lee's Pharm (HK: 950) in-licensed China rights to distribute a second prescription drug product from Abiogen Pharma of Italy (see story). In the latest deal, Lee's will market Thorens® Cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Earlier this year, Lee's gained China rights to Abioden's Attila®, an orphan drug for brittle bone disease (see story). Vitamin D deficiency is a common cause of osteoporosis, especially in dialysis patients, whose kidneys often cannot process the vitamin.

Trials and Approvals

Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharma (SHA: 600332; HK: 0874) was granted CFDA approval to market the first generic version of Viagra in China (see story). Viagra (sildenafil citrate) is Pfizer's (NYSE: PFE) blockbuster treatment for erectile dysfunction. China's ED market -- comprised of Viagra, its western competitors and now Baiyunshan -- is estimated at almost $300 million a year. Baiyunshan will price its generic Viagra at about half the $15 that Pfizer charges for a single Viagra pill in China. 

Aslan Pharma, based in Singapore, has begun dosing patients in a Taiwan Phase I trial of its lead compound, ASLAN001, in patients with solid tumors, especially gastric cancer (see story). ASLAN001 is a small molecule, oral pan-HER inhibitor that Aslan in-licensed from Array Biopharma (NSDQ: ARRY) in 2011. The molecule successfully completed a Phase IIa trial as a second-line treatment among a similar patient population in South Korea last year. 

Mazor Robotics (TASE: MZOR; NSDQ: MZOR) of Israel received CFDA approval to market its Renaissance® guidance system in China (see story). Renaissance is a guidance system for spine surgeries. The system will be marketed in China by Cicel, a medical device distribution company that is based in Beijing. Cicel believes that several hundred China hospitals are viable candidates for the system. 

Company News

ACM Global Central Laboratory, a US-headquartered central lab, upgraded its clinical trial support service network with the official opening of ACM Shanghai, a company-owned facility (see story). In January 2014, ACM acquired Phoenix Labs, which operated a central lab in Singapore and was constructing the Shanghai facility. Prior to the acquisition, ACM has been operating in Singapore, Shanghai and other Asia-Pacific countries for 15 years through affiliates. 

Disclosure: none.