The Second Annual ChinaBio® Partnering Forum 2010, held June 23-24 in Suzhou, China, generated a very successful round of meetings, according to co-organizers ChinaBio® LLC and EBD Group (see story). This year’s Partnering Forum was host to 337 companies from 23 countries. At least 654 one-to-one meetings were held between the 558 attendees. The event was hosted by BioBay life science park.

Fountain Medical Development, a full-service clinical CRO in China, has forged an alliance with ICON Central Laboratories, a subsidiary of ICON plc (NSDQ: ICLR), which is an international CRO based in Ireland (see story). The two companies will jointly operate a facility offering central lab services in Tianjin, where Fountain already had a facility.

Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical (SHEX: 600521) will spin off the generic drug business of its US subsidiary (see story). Huahai US Inc. is currently one of the company’s ten divisions. Huahai will form an independent holding company in the Cayman Islands, which will take control of its drug business in the US, according to state-owned publication, China Securities Journal.

China PharmaHub Corp. has set up a joint venture with two researchers that will own intellectual property for humanizing antibodies (see story). At the same time, China PharmaHub said it is pursuing a transaction to complete a reverse merger that will list the company on the OTC Bulletin Board.

NeoStem (NYSE Amex: NBS) raised $5 million in a private placement with new investors (see story). The offering placed 2.3 million units, each priced at $2.15, consisting of one common share and a warrant to buy an additional 0.25 share at $2.75 in the next two years. If exercised, the warrants would bring in another $1.6 million to the company.

ULURU (NYSE Alternext: ULU) has out-licensed the China rights for its wound healing product, Altrazeal, to Jiangxi Aiqilin Pharmaceuticals Group (see story). Astrazeal is a nanoparticle powder applied directly to an exudating wound that forms a film, preventing bacterial contamination while being permeable to both exudate and oxygen. The product is awaiting approval in the US and Europe.

China Nuokang Bio-Pharmaceutical (NSDQ: NKBP) has struck a deal to register and distribute Dianatal® Obstetric Gel in China (see story). Dianatal is a lubricant used to reduce trauma in childbirth that was developed by a Swiss company, HCB Happy Child Birth Holding Inc. Dianatal was approved as a medical device in Europe in 2007, where it is the only product approved for this indication.


Disclosure: none.