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The Week in Review: TCM Goes Mainstream
publication date: Jun 24, 2007
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author/source: Richard Daverman, PhD
British Firm Signs License for Dementia Drug
Traditional Chinese medicine took a step toward greater respectability last week, when the Military Medical Academy of China licensed an anti-dementia drug, which is based on TCM, to a British pharma.
After ten years of work, a group led by Ma Baiping of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences has completed the pre-clinical studies on NJS. The AMMS sold a license to the drug to Phytopharm plc (London: PYM) of the UK. Phytopharm will be responsible for performing clinical trials on the drug and promoting it in the international market. Terms were not disclosed.
Phytopharm is no stranger to the world of drugs derived from natural products. The company makes and distributes the weight-loss drugs based on Hoodia, a succulent plant found in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa.
In a press release, dementia was defined as the progressive decline in mental abilities, with Alzheimer's being the most common form of the disease.
Because the AMMS compound is being subjected to the same set of standards as a biopharma drug, the development of the medication and then its subsequent licensure offer a chance for the controversial world of TCM to prove itself on an international stage.
Phytopharm said the preclinical testing results for the drug were exciting. The compound, which is based on traditional Chinese medicines, has been fully patented around the world.
In other news from China this week, the sixth largest pharmaceutical company in the country, Shijiazhuang Pharma, was bought by a consortium of private equity firms for $114 million (see story). The kicker to the deal was that the new owners, led by Legend Holdings, must invest another $640 million in the company over the next five years. Much of those funds, apparently, will go to make acquisitions, meaning more deals in the offing, and some major consolidation in China's highly fragmented biopharma industry. Will this deal be the seed of a dominating presence on the Chinese biopharma scene?
China Medical Technologies (CMED) watched its stock move higher after reporting surprisingly strong numbers for its fiscal 2006 year, ended March 31 (see story). It was joined on the positive side of the reporting street by China-Biotics (Bulletin Board: CHBT), which operates in China through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Shanghai Shining Biotechnology Co., Ltd (see story). China-Biotics increased revenues and kept its margins at a very healthy level.
In terms of news about drugs, China Biopharma (Bulletin Board: CBPC) will seek OTC approval for an antiviral drug, targeting human papillomavirus (HPV) and herpes simplex virus (HSV) (see story). The company signed a deal with China-based Soonfast Pharma. China Biopharma will market the drug in the US and Europe, if it is approved. And Benda slightly increased its stake in its gene therapy cancer drug, Gendicine, by buying another 3% of SiBiono, increasing its ownership to 60% (see story).
Disclosure: none.
Traditional Chinese medicine took a step toward greater respectability last week, when the Military Medical Academy of China licensed an anti-dementia drug, which is based on TCM, to a British pharma.
After ten years of work, a group led by Ma Baiping of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences has completed the pre-clinical studies on NJS. The AMMS sold a license to the drug to Phytopharm plc (London: PYM) of the UK. Phytopharm will be responsible for performing clinical trials on the drug and promoting it in the international market. Terms were not disclosed.
Phytopharm is no stranger to the world of drugs derived from natural products. The company makes and distributes the weight-loss drugs based on Hoodia, a succulent plant found in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa.
In a press release, dementia was defined as the progressive decline in mental abilities, with Alzheimer's being the most common form of the disease.
Because the AMMS compound is being subjected to the same set of standards as a biopharma drug, the development of the medication and then its subsequent licensure offer a chance for the controversial world of TCM to prove itself on an international stage.
Phytopharm said the preclinical testing results for the drug were exciting. The compound, which is based on traditional Chinese medicines, has been fully patented around the world.
In other news from China this week, the sixth largest pharmaceutical company in the country, Shijiazhuang Pharma, was bought by a consortium of private equity firms for $114 million (see story). The kicker to the deal was that the new owners, led by Legend Holdings, must invest another $640 million in the company over the next five years. Much of those funds, apparently, will go to make acquisitions, meaning more deals in the offing, and some major consolidation in China's highly fragmented biopharma industry. Will this deal be the seed of a dominating presence on the Chinese biopharma scene?
China Medical Technologies (CMED) watched its stock move higher after reporting surprisingly strong numbers for its fiscal 2006 year, ended March 31 (see story). It was joined on the positive side of the reporting street by China-Biotics (Bulletin Board: CHBT), which operates in China through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Shanghai Shining Biotechnology Co., Ltd (see story). China-Biotics increased revenues and kept its margins at a very healthy level.
In terms of news about drugs, China Biopharma (Bulletin Board: CBPC) will seek OTC approval for an antiviral drug, targeting human papillomavirus (HPV) and herpes simplex virus (HSV) (see story). The company signed a deal with China-based Soonfast Pharma. China Biopharma will market the drug in the US and Europe, if it is approved. And Benda slightly increased its stake in its gene therapy cancer drug, Gendicine, by buying another 3% of SiBiono, increasing its ownership to 60% (see story).
Disclosure: none.
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