Deals and Financings

Samsung Biologics (KS: 207940) completed a $2 billion IPO in South Korea at an $8 billion valuation (see story). The company, a division of the large Samsung semiconductor conglomerate, has two divisions: a biologics contract manufacturer, and Bioepis, a joint venture with Biogen (NSDQ: BIIB) that makes biosimilar drugs. Samsung Biologics will use the proceeds to complete construction of its third manufacturing facility, a $740 million project, which will give it the biggest capacity of any biologic CMO and is expected to become operational in 2018. 

Qiming Venture Partners closed its fourth RMB fund at $222 million, which brings its assets-under-management to $2.7 billion (see story). Earlier this year, Qiming closed a US-dollar fund at $650 million, and it now has five US-dollar and four RMB funds. Qiming, which has offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou and Hong Kong, was formed in 2006. Historically, it has invested about 40% of its capital in life science companies. 

BeiGene (NSDQ: BGNE), the Beijing novel oncology drug developer, filed to raise as much as $150 million in a secondary offering (see story). The company completed a $158 million IPO in February, and it reported $200 million in cash at the end of the third quarter. BeiGene has four molecules in clinical development along with several pre-clinical programs, and the increase in clinical trial costs has driven expenses higher. The company's nine-month 2016 expenses ($80 million) are running at more than twice 2015 levels ($30 million). 

Betta Pharma (SHZ: 300558) raised $106 million via an IPO on Shenzhen's Chi-Next Exchange (see story). Formed by returnees in 2003, Betta develops and manufactures China Class 1.1 novel drugs for cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Icotinib (Conmana) was initially approved in China in 2011, and in 2014, it added the indication for first-line use in non-small cell lung cancer. Betta's manufacturing facilities are located in Hangzhou, and it operates an R&D lab in Beijing. In the IPO, Betta was priced at a price-earnings ratio of 23 and moved 44% higher in initial trading, where it was halted, giving Betta a market capitalization of $1.3 billion. 

Yisheng Biopharma, a Beijing vaccine company, will collaborate with San Diego's Scripps Research Institute on a next-gen AIDS vaccine (see story). Yisheng will contribute its PIKA vaccine adjuvant to a TSRI-developed vaccine consisting of novel gp140 trimers and self-assembling nanoparticles. TSRI scientists will also evaluate the potential of PIKA adjuvant for AIDS vaccine candidates. The PIKA adjuvant, a Toll-Like Receptor 3 (TLR3) agonist, has been tested in Phase I clinical trials for hepatitis B and Phase II trials for rabies, with promising results, according to Yisheng. 

Genexine (KOSDAQ: 095700) of Korea entered a clinical research collaboration with Merck/MSD (NYSE: MRK) to test a two-drug combination as a treatment for HPV-induced cancer (see story). The regimen will combine Genexine’s HPV therapeutic DNA vaccine and MSD’s PD-1 immunotherapy, Keytruda®. In a Phase I (solo) trial, the Genexine candidate, GX-188E, produced complete remissions of patients' CIN3 (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia) lesions in seven out of nine patients. Genexine did not disclose China plans for its drug, though the company usually out-licenses products to a domestic China pharma. Presently, neither the Genexine drug nor Keytruda is approved for China use. 

Shanghai's Eddingpharm signed a deal with Lilly China (NYSE: LLY) to promote and distribute two well-established Lilly antibiotics in China (see story). Ceclor®, marketed in China since 1993, is an oral antibiotic that is used globally. Vancocin®, which entered China in 1996, treats MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). Lilly said it hopes the relationship with Eddingpharm raises the revenues from the vaccines. The company plans to introduce ten new drugs in China over the next decade and wants to focus its resources on other novel products, both established and new-to-China. 

Eddingpharm also in-licensed China rights to ZolpiMist® from Suda (ASX: SUD), an Australian drugmaker specializing in oro-mucosal delivery of drugs (see story). ZolpiMist is a reformulation of zolpidem tartrate (Ambien), a short-term treatment for insomnia, delivered via Suda's OroMist® drug delivery platform. Eddingpharm will pay $300,000 upfront and another $200,000 once the product passes CFDA registration testing. Eddingpharm estimates the deal will generate $26 million of revenues for Suda over 15 years. 

Company News

Ping An Insurance has added 10,000 medical clinics in mainland China to its Wanjia Clinics chain since July (see story). The clinics provide services to the 110 million users of Ping An My Doctor online health portal, said Lee Yuansiong, executive director of the Shenzhen-based company in a South China Morning Post article. Earlier this year, My Doctor raised an astonishing $500 million in a Series A round that valued the startup at $3 billion. 

Trials and Approvals

Sirnaomics, a US-China pharma, reported approval of a US IND for a Phase II a trial of its lead RNAi therapeutic (see story). The candidate, STP705 (Cotsiranib®), targets hypertrophic scars via a dual-RNAi mechanism that pairs inhibitory fibrotic and inflammatory siRNA (small interfering RNA) molecules. Sirnaomics, based in Maryland, has a Suzhou affiliate. In January 2015, Sirnaomics filed an IND for China trials of STP705 with its China partner, Xiangxue Pharma of Guangzhou. 

Disclosure: none.