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Week in Review: Sinocare Acquires Second US Diagnostics Maker; Pays $200 Million

publication date: May 7, 2016
 | 
author/source: Richard Daverman, PhD

Deals and Financings

Sinocare (SHZ: 300298) of Shangsha will pay up to $200 million to acquire PTS Diagnostics of Indianapolis, a company that makes point-of-care blood testing devices (see story). PTS make devices that test glucose, lipid or nicotine levels in the blood. The PTS transaction is Sinocare's second purchase of a US company in six months. In November 2015, Sinocare paid $273 million for Nipro Diagnostics of Florida, the US division of Japan's Nipro, which also makes glucose monitoring products. In China, Sinocare is in the biosensors business, including diabetes monitoring devices. 

Founder Securities of China and Korea Investment Partners raised $300 million for an Asia healthcare fund (see story). Founder Securities is a subsidiary of Founder Group, a conglomerate owned by Peking University. The fund will take advantage of the University's medical research, investing in medical services, medical devices and innovative healthcare technologies. According to an executive of the joint venture, a second fund, whose target size is not known, is already planned. 

CSPC Pharma (HK: 01093) of Shijiazhuang has out-licensed global rights (ex-China) for a generic oncology drug to Watson Laboratories, a subsidiary of Allergan (NYSE: AGN) (see story). Watson will pay up to $108 million in milestones, plus a profit-based royalty. The drug, which was not identified, was described as complex. CSPC will manufacture the drug, and Watson will be responsible for approvals in its own territories. 

Ideaya Biosciences, an innovative San Francisco-San Diego oncology company, closed a $46 million Series A funding (see story). WuXi Healthcare Ventures participated in the round. Ideaya focuses on the concept of synthetic lethality: paired genes that must both be targeted to induce cell death. If one gene is already mutated, the other can be inhibited to destroy the tumor. Ideaya is only one year old and was incubated by 5AM Ventures with a seed investment prior to its Series A financing. 

Sirnaomics, a Maryland developer of RNAi therapeutics, closed a $10 million Series B financing, led by Hong Kong-based venture fund, Value Measured Investment Limited (see story). Sirnaomics said the capital will support a US Phase I trial of its lead candidate, STP705, an anti-fibrosis therapeutic. STP705 is expected to start trials in patients with hypertrophied scar tissue in 2H of 2016. In January of this year, Sirnaomics' China partner, Guangzhou Xiangxue Pharma (SZE: 300147),filed to start a similar China trial. 

Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine (SHA: 600276) signed a three-year oncology research agreement with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, an agreement that was first disclosed in an exclusive ChinaBio® Today interview (see story). The two entities described their collaboration as a joint translational research effort, combining scientific and clinical capabilities. The goal is to develop rational combination therapies and personalized medicines with an immunotherapy focus. Hengrui is developing its own PD-1 immunotherapy and, most likely, wants to identify the best targets and treatment regimens for the asset. 

Trials and Approvals

Innovative Cellular Therapeutics, a China cell therapy company, announced that its CAR-T product achieved a 90% remission rate in leukemia patients, each of whom had relapsed/refractory disease (see story). The results, which came from a small initial trial of ten patients, were reported at the 2016 Hematogenic Immunity Summit held in Hangzhou last month. The trial was conducted jointly by the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University and ICT. According to Professor Huang He of Zhejiang Hospital, the results were best-in-class for global CAR-T trials. 

China Jo-Jo Drugstores (NSDQ CM: CJJD), a pharmacy chain in Zhejiang province, received CFDA approval to install virtual doctors in clinics at six of its retail locations (see story). The doctors, who consult via a TV hookup, will write prescriptions that the drugstore can fill. With the approval, drug costs will be covered by China's government and private insurance plans. China Jo-Jo, which expects its prescription costs will be 10%-30% lower than hospital pharmacies', plans to expand the service to all of its 59 retail outlets.

Disclosure: none.


 

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