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Week in Review: Blackstone Buys a $100 Million Stake in China Medical Device Company
Deals and Financings
Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) will buy a stake rumored to be about $100 million in Suzhou Xinrong Best Medical Instrument Co., a maker of orthopedic implants (see story). Blackstone is a US private equity firm. Founded in 2000, Xinrong Best makes trauma products, artificial joint replacements and spinal reconstruction devices.
China's Livzon Mabpharm will collaborate with Epirus Biopharma (NSDQ: EPRS) of Boston to develop up to five biosimilar drugs for the China market (see story). The first product is a Remicade biosimilar, which was recently approved in India. Livzon will develop the drug for China and Taiwan using Epirus' Scale™ manufacturing platform to produce the drug for these two markets. Livzon was a principal investor in Epirus' $36 million funding in April 2014.
iHealth, a Tianjin company that makes smartphone-compatible health monitoring device devices, received a $25 million capital investment from Xiaomi Ventures (SZE: 002432), a China electronics company(see story). iHealth was founded in 2010 as a subsidiary of Andon Health, which makes home healthcare medical devices. iHealth said one of its devices was the first health product carried by Apple retail stores.
Company News
Sagent Pharma (NSDQ: SGNT) announced the second US launch of a product from its partnership with Hengrui Medicine (SHA: 600276) (see story). The drug is Oxaliplatin Injection, USP, a treatment for colon and rectal cancer, which has a US market of $102 million, according to IMS. Hengrui will manufacture the drug. Last month, Sagent began US marketing of Hydrochloride Injection, another Hengrui-produced treatment for cancer.
Biocept (NSDQ: BIOC), a San Diego device maker, plans to expand to China after being awarded a China patent for its blood-borne oncology diagnostic tests (see story). The company positions its microfluidic channel technology as an alternative to a biopsy in patients who have been diagnosed with cancer. Biocept's technology identifies and enumerates circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in the blood to help guide treatment and monitor changes in the tumor.
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