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The Week in Review: Bayer to Expand Beijing R&D Center

publication date: Feb 19, 2011
 | 
author/source: Richard Daverman, PhD
Bayer Healthcare (XETRA: BAY) has announced plans to expand its Beijing pharmaceutical R&D center, even though other big pharmas are scaling back their worldwide R&D operations (see story). In an interview with Reuters, Chris Lee, head of Bayer China, said the company will increase its headcount at the facility from about 135 researchers currently up to 300 in the next few years.

Charles River Labs (NYSE: CRL) intends to sell its Shanghai pre-clinical drug development lab, saying China hasn’t yet developed a market for US-compliant toxicology testing (see story). The facility remains open and its owners are in talks with interested parties about purchasing the lab, according to executives close to the company. The US-based CRO owns and operates the facility through a JV that it formed with Shanghai BioExplorer.

An offshoot of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) is getting into the venture capital business (see story). The CAS Jiahe Venture Capital Fund was recently launched by CAS Holdings, an affiliate of the CAS and majority owner of CAS Jiahe. Oriental Scientific Instrument Corporation, another majority-owned subsidiary of CAS and a provider of scientific laboratory equipment, was charged with running CAS Jiahe.

To further its healthcare reform, China announced it will encourage private entities to invest in hospitals and clinics (see story). And, underscoring its commitment, it has even relaxed the rules that govern foreign investment in these institutions. The change in policy implicitly recognizes that the government needs some help in meeting its goals, even though it has committed $124 billion to bring healthcare to its 1.3 billion people.

The Shanghai Municipal Health Bureau prohibited three medical device companies from selling their products in the Shanghai market for two years after they were found guilty of bribery (see story). The companies are Zhuhai Livzon Diagnostics, a division of Livzon Pharmaceutical Group (SHA: 000513), Shanghai Ruiyi Medical Device and Shanghai Zheming Industrial Trading.

Transactions


Shenzhen Neptunus Bioengineering (SHE: 000078) released plans to raise up to 1.44 billion RMB ($219 million) through a private placement (see story). The company expects to sell as much as 139 million shares at a minimum price of 10.37 RMB per share. Most of the new capital will be used to upgrade its distribution network.

Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group (GPG), a state-owned enterprise that is China’s largest manufacturer of proprietary medicines, signed a strategic alliance with Fuyang Municipal Government in Anhui province (see story). The agreement will expand a pharmaceutical chemicals collaboration. Under the terms of the alliance, GPG will build new pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution facilities. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

CMO/CRO Services

ScinoPharm announced it will be the sole manufacturer for the active pharmaceutical ingredient of a new anti-depressant, Viibryd (see story). ScinoPharm, a CRO/CMO headquartered in Taiwan, has research facilities in mainland China. The company implied it will make the API at its new GMP plant in Changshu, which is expected to be operational in Q3 of 2011.

American Oriental Bioengineering (NYSE: AOB) has struck a deal with Palm Beach Clinical Research Organization (PBCRO) of the US to use PBCRO to oversee American clinical trials of AOBO-developed pharmaceuticals (see story). American Oriental did not disclose which of its products it plans to enter into the process of FDA registration. AOBO, which is headquartered in the Beijing E-Town Economic and Technology Development Area, makes both prescription and OTC products.

Disclosure: none.





 

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