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Week in Review: ShangPharma Partners to Build Biologics Campus

publication date: Sep 19, 2015
 | 
author/source: Richard Daverman, PhD

Deals and Financings

ShangPharma, a Shanghai CRO/CMO, will partner with Qidong Biopharma Industrial Zone to build a $60 million biologics campus, including an R&D facility and state-of-the-art manufacturing plant (see story). The two facilities comprise the first stage in a project that is expected to include multiple phases. ShangPharma's CRO division, ChemPartner, will be responsible for the R&D operation while ShangPharma's CMO division, China Gateway Biologics, will be in charge of the commercial scale manufacturing facility. ShangPharma expects the manufacturing plant to be ready for client projects in 2018. 

Tendcare Medical Group, a China private hospital operator, received a $40 million investment from Olympus Capital Asia, a private equity company (see story). Tendcare, also known as Tian Jian Hua Xia Medical Group, currently operates six hospitals totaling over 2,400 beds, four pharmacies, two medical equipment companies and 17 clinics across five cities in China. The company will use the money to complete the acquisition of several additional hospitals, a process that is already under way.

Crystal Pharmatech, a Suzhou-New Jersey clinical research organization, raised $10 million in a Series A round led by Renren Lianhe Holdings, the investment arm of China social media company Renren (see story). Crystal Pharmatech will use the funds to develop its drug development operation, which centers on materials science along with solid drug screening and evaluation. 

Yabao Pharma (SHA: 600351) added another project to its development portfolio of innovative drugs by in-licensing greater China rights to a candidate for stroke treatment from Primary Peptides of Vancouver (see story). Primary Peptides, which develops peptides that inhibit protein-protein interaction, says the K13 peptide was effective in animal models, even if administered as long as six hours after stroke onset. Yabao is busy on the deal-making front. One week ago, it announced a collaboration with the University of South Australia to develop new cancer drugs. 

Company News

Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine (SHA: 600276) will invest $240 million to build an internationally compliant biopharmaceutical production facility in its home city of Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province (see story). The company has acquired a 200 acre site in the Lianyungang Technological Development Zone for the plant. Two months ago, Hengrui announced plans to spend $137 million building a new biologic drug manufacturing facility in Suzhou.

Veritas Genetics, a Boston genetic testing startup, established a China R&D center in the Hangzhou Economic & Technological Development Area (see story). The center will be dedicated to developing products that address the unique genetic needs of Asian populations. Veritas intends to make accessible screening and testing products that are available globally. In May, Lilly Ventures Asia backed Veritas' initial $10 million funding. So far, Veritas has an oral BRCA1-BRCA2 breast and ovarian cancer test available in the US and Europe. 

Trials and Approvals

Beijing Shenogen Biomedical announced that Icaritin, a China Class I cancer drug, was granted Fast Track Review status after the company filed its New Drug Approval submission to the Beijing Food & Drug Administration (see story). Icaritin is an oral traditional Chinese medicine, derived from barrenwort, which targets the estrogen receptor α36. Shenogen has conducted clinical trials of Icaritin in patients with liver cancer, though it expects the drug will also prove effective in breast cancer and other estrogen-related cancers as well. 

ASLAN Pharma, a Singapore-based biotech focused on cancer, reports it has received approvals to conduct a clinical Phase II trial in Singapore and Taiwan of ASLAN001 (varlitinib) as a  second-line treatment for cholangiocarcinoma (see story). Cholangiocarcinoma, the second most prevalent form of liver cancer, is an aggressive form of bile duct cancer with no approved therapy. In August, ASLAN001 was granted Orphan Drug status in the US for the disease. 

Disclosure: none.


 

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