Stories about new deals, drug development and financial news showed that China biophama continued its evolution last week. Phynova (AIM: PYN) was a prominent example. The UK-based botanical drug company announced that it has adopted a more China-centric focus (see story). Traditionally, the company has always had a connection to China; it owns a 45% share in Botanic Century Beijing Ltd, a drug development company, and its previous business plan called for the use of TCM formulations as a basis for drugs that addressed unmet medical needs in the west. Now, the company will concentrate its attention on China, with an emphasis on the China market, China drugs and China acquisitions. Phynova’s lead drug is PYN 17, which is based on a TCM with known anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic properties. The drug is being developed as a treatment for the symptoms of chronic hepatitis C. It has successfully completed safety and tolerability tests in Phase I/II trials while exhibiting anti-inflammatory tendencies in hepatitis patients. Phynova is planning a Phase II proof of concept trial for PYN 17, but the company is low on cash. Phynova did not disclose whether it will continue to pursue approval of PYN 17 in the west under its new business plan.

Crown Bioscience announced that it will build a second China-located CRO facility in Taicang City, Jiangsu Province (see story). Crown Bioscience is based in Silicon Valley, though its labs are in Beijing and Indianapolis, Indiana. Taicang City, for its part, is actively seeking to attract CROs. One of the attractions of the area is lower wages as Taicang hasn’t experienced the same wage inflation as the major biopharma centers of Shanghai and Beijing. In the last two years, Crown Bioscience has been building a web of CRO relationships, most notably with Chemizon. Like Crown, Chemizon has its headquarters in the US, though its operations are in South Korea and Beijing. In April of this year, Chemizon participated in Crown’s B funding round.

The Dutch diagnostics company Qiagen (NSDQ: QGEN) announced a deal with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). The two entities will work together to develop new molecular tests that will determine the safety of food (see story). Operations will be housed in the Institute of Nutritional Sciences (INS), Shanghai Institute of Biological Sciences (SIBS) in the Xuhui district. Qiagen will equip the collaboration with instruments and consumables while CAS will provide the physical space and researchers.