News & Analysis

Zhangjiang Park to Cooperate with Swedish Counterpart Mar 19, 2010: Shanghai Zhangjiang Biotech & Pharmaceutical Base Development Company (ZJBPB) has signed a cooperation agreement with Sweden’s Uppsala BIO and Uppsala Innovation Center (UIC) that will help European biopharmas establish entities in China and vice-versa. Uppsala BIO is a biopharma incubator that has backed about half of the high-tech companies that operate in the Uppsala Innovation Center. More details...

Sinovac Finds India Partner for H1N1 Vaccine Mar 19, 2010: Sinovac Biotech Co. (北京科兴生物制品有限公司) has signed up Parenteral Drugs India to distribute its H1N1 Influenza Vaccine (Split Virion) and Inactivated (Panflu.1) in India. Parenteral, which will have an exclusive license for the vaccines in India, will presumably be responsible for registering them in its home territory. More details...

Stock Symbols: (NYSE: SVA) (BSE: 524689)

China Sky One Predicts Improved 2010; Changes Focus Mar 18, 2010: China Sky One Medical (中国天字一号医药公司) expects 2010 revenues to grow by 20% to $156 million. Net income, however, will increase by a more modest 13% to $39 million, as the company ups its R&D to 15% of revenue. At the same time, the company said it will shift its corporate focus to cardiovascular medicine and antibiotic drugs. More details...

Stock Symbol: (NSDQ: CSKI)

IMS Health: China Leads Emerging Pharma Markets Mar 17, 2010: IMS Health has upped its count of “pharmerging” countries to 17 high-growth pharmaceutical markets. Previously, only seven markets qualified. According to IMS Health, these 17 countries represent $90 billion of increased pharmaceutical spending during 2009-13, collectively offering 48% of the growth in the market in 2013. China is the most significant opportunity of the 17, a market that is “in a league of its own,” in the words of the healthcare consultancy company. More details...

Stock Symbol: (NYSE: IMS)

Vycor Medical to Register Brain Surgery Device in China Mar 17, 2010: Vycor Medical, Inc. will seek SFDA approval for its VBAS (ViewSite™ Brain Access System), an innovative retraction system for use during brain surgery. Once the medical device is approved, Vycor will co-market the product in China with its partner, Devon Medical, Inc, which is also helping with the registration process. More details...

Stock Symbol: (OTCBB: VYCO)

MicuRx Files IND in China for New Antibiotic Mar 16, 2010: MicuRx Pharmaceuticals filed an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the SFDA for MRX-I, its most-advanced antibiotic drug candidate. MRX-I, an orally-administered oxazolidinone, targets drug resistant infections. MicuRx is headquarterd in the San Francisco area, but it has a 10,000 square foot laboratory in Shanghai’s Zhangjiang High-Tech Park. More details...

Novartis’ China Revenues Climb 36% in 2009 Mar 16, 2010: Novartis AG, the Swiss multinational pharma, said revenues in China grew 36% last year, far better than the company’s overall 11% rise in sales. In 2009, Novartis China was helped by supplying 100 million doses of the company’s A(H1N1) pandemic vaccine to China. Novartis China markets pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and diagnostics. More details...

Stock Symbol: (NYSE: NVS)

Lee’s Pharma to Distribute Recordati Hypertension Drug Mar 16, 2010: Lee's Pharmaceutical Holdings Limited, which is headquartered in Hong Kong, signed an exclusive license for China distribution of a Recordati S.p.A. antihypertensive drug, Zanidip® (lercanidipine). Zanidip is a calcium channel blocker (CCB). Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. More details...

Stock Symbols: (GEM: 8221) (MI: RECI)

FDA Issues Warning to China API Maker Mar 15, 2010: The FDA has told XiAn Libang Pharmaceuticals to improve its quality control procedures, if it wants to continue importing products to the US. The US agency told the company to hire an outside auditor to develop a Corrective Action Plan and respond to the warning letter within 15 days. According to the FDA, XiAn Libang did not conduct a thorough investigation after quality control problems were discovered last summer. More details...

TCT Medical Books $10 Million Investment from Fidelity Mar 11, 2010: TCT Medical Technology, a China medical device company that focuses on the OB/GYN market, has raised $10 million in new capital from two Fidelity funds. TCT claims to be the largest high-tech medical equipment and supplies importer in China within women’s health. It is the exclusive distributor in China of Cytyc’s ThinPrep pap test, the world’s leading cervical cancer screening product. More details...