Deals and Financings

WuXi PharmaTech (NYSE: WX), China's largest CRO/CMO, announced a surprise privatization offer of $46 per ADS from Dr. Ge Li, the company's founder, chairman and CEO, and Ally Bridge Group Capital Partners (see story). Before the offer, WuXi closed at $39.50. If the offer is completed, WuXi would be the largest privatization transaction in China's life science sector. Shortly after the New York opening, the company's stock is trading at $44.41, giving the company a market capitalization of over $3.1 billion and a trailing price-earnings ratio of 26. 

China Cord Blood Corp. (NYSE: CO), which claims to be China's largest provider of cord banking services, has received a take-private offer of $512 million from Golden Meditech Holdings (HK: 801), the company's largest shareholder (see story). Apparently, the offer was heavily anticipated because the shares ended much higher -- $7.22 -- at the previous close. On March 19, when Jayhawk Capital issued an open letter asking China Cord Blood's board to do something about the company's stock price, China Cord Blood was trading at $5.54. 

Shenzhen Hepalink Pharma (SHE: 002399), a major global supplier of heparin API, signed a framework agreement to acquire greater China rights for a novel BET inhibitor from Resverlogix (TSX: RVX) of Canada (see story). The deal includes an investment in Resverlogix of $41 million and a package of milestones and sales royalties that could top $400 million. Resverlogix is planning a global Phase III trial of the drug, RVX-208, in patients with cardiovascular disease. Earlier this month, Resverlogix secured China patent approvals for RVX-208 and said it would attend the ChinaBio® Partnering Forum to seek a China partner for the drug. 

Scanadu, a Silicon Valley diagnostic device maker, raised $35 million in a Series B round led by China investors Fosun International and Tencent Holdings (see story). Scanadu has developed Scout, a device about the size of a hockey puck that monitors an individual's vital signs and transmits them to the person's physician. The company intends to seek regulatory approval of the Scout device as a medical grade diagnostic device in the US and China. The target price for the device is $199. 

Company News

WuXi PharmaTech, through its subsidiary WuXi Biologics, began construction of its $150 million biologics manufacturing facility in Wuxi city (see story). According to Wuxi, the facility is slated to be the world's largest mammalian cell culture facility using disposable bioreactors, and also be the largest biologics manufacturing plant in China of any type. WuXi already provides biologic drug manufacturing services for both clinical and commercial use; the new facility will add to its commercial capacity. 

Green Cross of South Korea will build a new cell therapy manufacturing facility in the Guian New Area of Guizhou province, located in China's southwest corner (see story). In South Korea, the company already produces cell therapy projects including T cell, NK cell, dendritic cell and stem cells. The new China facility will offer cellular therapeutic products for clinical studies and commercial supply, in response, the company says, to the increasing global interest in cellular therapeutic drugs as treatments for serious diseases. 

Trials and Approvals

TaiGen Biotechnology (TWO: 4157) of Taiwan has started a China clinical trial of burixafor, the company's novel stem cell mobilizer, which will be tested as a chemotherapy sensitizer (see story). The Phase I/II trial will study burixafor in combination with two chemotherapy agents, fludaragine and cytarabine, in patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia. The drug has already completed a Phase IIa trial in the US. 

Disclosure: ChinaBio® has a business relationship with WuXi PharmaTech.