Deals and Financings

Wuzhou Zhongheng Group (SHA: 600252) paid $52 million for a 10% stake in Oramed Pharma (NSDQ: ORMP) and China rights to its two diabetes treatments (see story). Oramed, based in Israel, develops oral versions of injected protein drugs. Details of the deal were not disclosed. In December 2014, Zhongheng invested $5 million in Oramed for a 7% stake in the company, which suggests the China rights to the diabetes treatments are worth over $40 million. Recently, Oramed announced plans to begin a US Phase IIb trial of its oral insulin product.

Hadasit Bio Holdings (TASE: HDST; OTCBB: HADSY), a holding company for medical technology developed at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, announced a $2 million investment from unspecified Chinese investors (see story). The investors will receive 25% of the company's shares and preferential treatment on China rights to any products. If additional investment is supplied, Hadasit will form a China development unit. At present, it has six portfolio companies. 

Provectus Biopharma (NYSE: PCVT), a clinical stage oncology pharma headquartered in Tennessee, has signed an LOI with Boehringer Ingelheim (China) Investment Co. (see story). The LOI proposes that Boehringer will support Provectus' efforts to register PV-10, the company's lead cancer molecule, in China. In return, Boehringer will have first priority to collaborate in Provectus' China commercialization of PV-10. One year ago, Provectus signed an LOI with Sinopharm for China rights to PV-10. The agreement, which has been extended several times, will expire in two weeks. 

Desano Pharmaceuticals of Shanghai struck a deal with ViiV Healthcare to produce the active ingredient of GlaxoSmithKline's (NYSE: GSK) new HIV drug, dolutegravir, an integrase strand transfer inhibitor (see story). ViiV was formed in 2009 by GSK and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) to offer cost-effective HIV treatments to less-developed countries. Shionogi joined in 2012. By outsourcing the production of the API to Desano, ViiV can lower the cost. ViiV intends to combine dolutegravir with anti-retrovirals to make the combination therapy Tivicay. 

News and Analysis

Fully 25% of China's adult population suffer from hypertension and almost 10% have diabetes. The analysis was part of a ten-year study conducted by China's National Health and Family Planning Commission (see story). Chronic diseases result from poor dietary habits, sedentary life styles and smoking, the report continued, though longer average lifespans also have an effect. The government plans an all-out education offensive to prevent the occurrence of chronic disease, and it pledged to develop best-practice use of western-style drugs and TCM products to treat chronic disease, once it occurs. 

Colorcon, a privately held US CRO/CMO excipient maker that specializes in solid dose drug formulation, opened a technical service laboratory in Beijing's YiZhuang Biomedical Park (see story). The company has operated a similar lab in Shanghai since 1993. The company positioned the facility, its 19th globally, as providing research-scale solid dose products to North China pharmas. 

Trials and Approvals

Zhejiang Kanglaite Group will start a large US Phase III trial of its lead drug, Kanglaite, a TCM-derived medication, in patients with pancreatic cancer (see story). The company says Kanglaite Injection is a novel dual-function drug that kills cancer cells while strengthening immune function. Its active ingredient is derived from coix, a grass related to rice and maize. The trial of the drug, which has been approved in China since 1995, will be conducted by Kanglaite's US subsidiary.

Disclosure: none.