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Summaries of each week's events in China biotech are provided free to all readers. A weekly email newsletter providing direct links to these articles is also available - click here for free email newsletter...

Recent Articles

The Week in Review: Are WuXi PharmaTech and ShangPharma Takeover Targets? Feb 4, 2012: WuXi PharmaTech and ShangPharma are both attractive M&A targets, with higher profit margins and lower PE ratios than their US competitors; Cardinal Health will make $90 million in China acquisitions to bolster its drug distribution coverage; Tianjin Tasly Pharma and SemBioSys Genetics of Canada received business licenses for their China JV; Transgene formed a scientific cooperation program with three European institutions and Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center; the Beijing FDA added new categories of drugs for fast-track status; Steve Yang, AstraZeneca’s VP for R&D in Asia, says the company’s China R&D operation aims to “transform how we do R&D;” AstraZeneca announced another 7,300 layoffs in the US and Europe as it adds activities in China; and Frontage Labs announced its completed a Phase I trial of a China botanical drug in the US. More details….

Stock Symbols: (NYSE: WX) (NYSE: SHP) (NYSE: CAH) (SHA: 600535) (TSX: SBS) (Euronext: TNG) (NYSE: AZN)

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The Week in Review: Seven China Researchers Land $650,000 Howard Hughes Research Grants Jan 28, 2012: Seven early-career China researchers landed $650,000 grants from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, four of them are part of Beijing’s National Institute of Biological Sciences; EntreMed landed $10 million from a group of investors with China roots; Saladax Biomedical believes China will be a big market for the company’s diagnostic assays; SuperNova Diagnostics® is developing a point of care platform based on LCD technology; and Syneron Medical received SFDA approval for five aesthetic dermatology devices. More details….

Stock Symbols: (NSDQ: ENMD) (NSDQ: ELOS)

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The Week in Review: Xizang Haisco Pharma Completes $127 Million IPO Jan 21, 2012: Xizang Haisco Pharma, a Tibetan TCM company, staged a $127 million IPO in Shenzhen; Sanjiu Medical and Pharma expects to spend between $94.7 and $110.5 million to buy Shandong Shunfeng Pharma; Da An Gene formed a diagnostics JV with Life Technologies of San Diego; Jiangsu Kanion Pharma transferred the global ex-China rights for three oncology drug candidates to NewGen Therapeutics of California; ShangPharma reached the first milestone in its mAb partnership with Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine; Quintiles opened a back office center in Dalian, a northeast China city; Novartis received SFDA approval for Lucentis, a treatment for wet AMD, and will launch its diabetes drug, Galvus, in China; Xiamen Innovax Biotech was granted SFDA approval for a hepatitis E vaccine; and Drs. Zhen-Yi Wang and Zhu Chen were awarded a prestigious US prize for their groundbreaking work with a leukemia sub-type. More details….

Stock Symbols: (SHE: 002653) (SHE: 000999) (SHE: 002030) (NSDQ: LIFE) (SHA: 600557) (NYSE: SHP) (NYSE: NVS)

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The Week in Review: China Featured at J.P. Morgan Confab Jan 14, 2012: Participants were optimistic about China at last week's J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, showing lots of optimism and getting real deals done; Amerigen Pharma announced two new cross-border relationships: with Shanghai Fosun Omni Pharma, Amerigen will develop controlled release oral generic drugs, and the company also signed an MOU with VIWA Pharma to develop branded generics for the China market; a Shanghai Pharma subsidiary acquired a 51% stake in Shanghai Jinhe Biotechnology; NovaBay® Pharma will use Pioneer Pharma to commercialize its wound cleaning product; Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine and Crown Bioscience will develop a novel monoclonal antibody; Aeras partnered with the China National Biotec Group to develop a recombinant TB vaccine; and Mindray Medical reported 2011 revenues rose 25% to $878 million. More details….

Stock Symbols: (SHA: 601607, HK: 2607) (AMEX: NBY) (SHA: 600276) (NYSE: MR)

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The Week in Review: China Unveils Biotech Development Plan 2010-2020 Jan 7, 2012: China’s MOST issued the National Program on Bioscience Technology Development 2010-2020, establishing a set of very specific goals for developing a world-class biotech industry in China; Vivo Ventures closed its $375 million Vivo Ventures VII fund that will invest in China and US healthcare companies, with a particular bias toward cross-border partnerships; AstraZeneca plans to expand its branded generics business in China through M&A with China pharmas; ProteoTech will collaborate with GSK China to develop a Parkinson’s disease drug; China Kanghui Holdings received FDA approval for two artificial joint replacements; Darren Ji, MD, PhD, stepped down as CEO of PharmaLegacy and will now be setting up and managing new ventures in China and Asia; and Ascletis received a $1.6 million R&D grant from the Hangzhou National Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone. More details….

Stock Symbols: (NYSE: AZN) (NYSE: GSK) (NYSE: KH)

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The Week in Review: China Events at J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference Dec 31, 2011: The 2012 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference includes several China-related events, which we describe; Harbin Pharma was given an official go-ahead to complete an $870 million corporate restructuring with its parent, Harbin Pharmaceutical Group; China Health Resource retained legal counsel to facilitate an international acquisition strategy; China announced new Foreign Direct Investment Guidelines that will encourage foreigners to invest in China biotechnology companies; and Yunnan Baiyao Group began operations in its new $396 million production facility. More details….

Stock Symbols: (SHA: 600664) (OTCBB: CHRI) (SHE: 000538)

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The Week in Review: Hutchison MediPharma and AstraZeneca Partner on Cancer Drug Dec 24, 2011: Hutchison MediPharma and AstraZeneca formed a partnership to develop a novel cancer molecule; Hua Medicine in-licensed global rights to diabetes treatment program; Shunfeng Pharma is auctioning itself off to the highest bidder, which is expected to be Sanjiu Medical; Beijing Double-Crane Pharma will pay $17.4 million to buy Henan Shuanghe Huali Pharma; Beijing SL Pharma and Lin Chia announced a US-based JV; ForteBio, a maker of biotech drug development tools, was acquired by Pall Corporation; BioTime optioned antibody-producing cell lines from USCN Life Science China; Frontage Labs opened a renovated clinical-stage facility for cancer in Jilin University Hospital; Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine was granted FDA approval for a chemotherapy drug; and DSM Sinochem announced plans to build a manufacturing facility in Shandong province. More details….

Stock Symbols: (NYSE: AZN) (SIX: ROG) (SHE: 000999) (SHA: 600062) (SHE: 002038) (NYSE: PLL) (AMEX: BTX) (SHA: 600276)

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The Week in Review: Simcere and BMS Add Cardiovascular Drug to Partnership Dec 17, 2011: Simcere will develop a cardiovascular molecule with Bristol-Myers Squibb; China Sky One Medical and three partners will invest $36.3 million to create a stem cell company; ICON acquired a China clinical-stage CRO, BeijingWits Medical Consulting; Jilin Aodong Medicine put a hold on its $25 million Vital Therapies investment; Boehringer Ingelheim announced a $91 million expansion of its Shanghai manufacturing facility; Pfizer executives said the company has a two-fold R&D strategy for China; Sihuan Pharmaceutical broke ground on a new $110 million campus in Beijing; Quintiles will launch a new company, named Kun Tuo, to build its China presence; and China’s State Council has tightened regulation of TCM products. More details…..

Stock Symbols: (NYSE: SCR) (NYSE: BMY) (NSDQ: CSKI) (NSDQ: ICLR) (SHE: 000623) (NYSE: PFE) (HKEX: 0460)

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The Week in Review: Merck Plans Beijing R&D Center; $1.5 Billion China Investment Dec 10, 2011: Merck plans to build an innovative drug R&D facility in Beijing as part of a new $1.5 billion investment in China; AstraZeneca will acquire anti-infectives maker Guangdong BeiKang Pharma; Lanzhou Foci Pharma, a TCM company, will issue 20.2 million shares in its Shenzhen IPO; Guangdong Taiantang Pharma paid $21.4 million for a 52% stake in Guangzhou Hongxing; Beijing SL Pharma invested $14 million for an 18% interest in Forwell Biopharm, a vaccine company; Zhejiang Conba Pharma acquired an 84% stake in TCM maker Yunnan Xiongye Pharma; Mindray Medical bought a controlling interest in a healthcare IT company; and Aoxing Pharma announced a new $3.2 million bank loan. More details….

Stock Symbols: (NYSE: MRK) (NYSE: AZN) (SHE: 002644) (SHE: 002433) (SHE: 002038) (SHA: 600572) (NYSE: MR) (AMEX: AXN)

The Week in Review: China’s 12th Five-year Plan for Medical Technology Dec 3, 2011: China released its 12th Five-year Plan for Medical Technology, setting a long list of broad goals to be accomplished by the end of 2015; the World Health Organization certified the quality of the SFDA’s vaccine supervision, opening a huge market for vaccine makers; China wants to increase the benefits of its healthcare reform for citizens; Huahai Pharma will raise as much as $204 million through a private placement; Regeneron and Bayer have begun a China Phase III trial of their treatment for wet AMD; Ascletis was nominated for InVivo’s Exit/Financing Deal of the Year award; Sihuan Bioengineering is suing Vitapharm Technology of Australia over a patent dispute; Haibin Pharma received a EU-GMP certificate from Germany for meropenem bulk drug; and LDR was granted SFDA approval to market two spinal device systems. More details….

Stock Symbols: (SHA: 600521) (NSDQ: REGN) (XETRA: BAY) (SHE: 000518)

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