Government & Regulatory

According to reports, China will invest 10 trillion RMB ($1.7 trillion) over the next five years in five strategic industries – one of which is biotechnology (see story). The program and the amount were announced by US Commerce Secretary John Bryson, who is visiting China on an official trade mission. The program was reported for the first time one year ago in a Reuters report, but it has never been officially confirmed by China officials and is much larger than the $302 million budgeted in the 12th Five-Year Plan for Science and Technology programs.

Deals & Transactions

Shanghai Fosun Pharma (SHA: 600196) received permission from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to offer up to 3 billion RMB ($470 million) of corporate bonds (see story). The bonds will be issued in installments. Half of the total must be offered in the first six months, and the remaining amount can be issued during the next 18 months. Fosun Pharma did not disclose how it intends to use the capital.

Kunming Pharma (SHA: 600422) will partner with Heilongjiang ZBD Pharma to develop Sanqi Panax Notoginseng for Injection (freeze-drying), a TCM used for blood disorders (see story). Each party will contribute IP that they own or “are about to own” to the collaboration. The reason behind the “about to own” phrase was not made clear. Panax Notoginseng is prescribed to promote hemostasis, blood production and blood thinning.

Big Pharma in China

China offers many different opportunities to global pharma – inexpensive APIs, drug development, a large market, to name a few very broad categories. For Bayer (XETRA: BAY), China has given a second life to a 17-year-old diabetes drug, Glucobay (see story). Glucobay, long off patent, is almost forgotten in the US. But it provided Bayer China with $283 million in revenues last year, an increase of 22% over the year before.

Lilly (NYSE: LLY) remains worried about IP theft in China, even though the company is upping its investment in the China market in an attempt to increase its market share (see story). In a recent interview, CEO John Lechleiter said China has made "remarkable progress" against counterfeiting, and "The importance of intellectual property protection is understood by the highest levels of government in China.” Nevertheless, IP theft remains a problem, according to Lechleiter.

Trials & Approvals

Tasly Pharmaceuticals (SHA: 600535) has chosen ICON (NSDQ: ICLR), the Dublin-based CRO, to conduct a global Phase III trial of Tasly’s oral TCM treatment for angina (see story). The drug, known alternately as T89, Dantonic® and Cardiotonic, could be the first TCM to win FDA approval in the US. In June of this year, Tasly announced it would invest $40 million into a US facility to support Dantonic.

Disclosure: none.