Last week in China, it was time for the National Day Holiday, and most of China
took the week off, a celebration that put considerable constraint on news flow.
Nevertheless, there were a few deals announced (and one that fell apart), and
several companies released their financial results from the previous quarter as
the current one came to a close. At
ChinaBio® Today, we interviewed Dr.
Sofie Qiao, who delineated for us the business plan of the US-China biopharma
she formed, LEAD Therapeutics.
Among the deals that made news, China
Biologic Products (OTCBB:
CBPO) said it had agreed to terms that will give it control of
a competitor in the plasma-based pharmaceutical sector (see
story). China
Biologic will pay $28.5 million for a 90% stake in Chongqing Dalin Biologic
Technologies Co. Dalin owns a 54% equity interest in Qianfeng Biological
Products Co., Ltd., which has a 9.5% market share of China’s highly fragmented
plasma-based biopharma space. China Biologic is responsible for 6.1% of the
country’s plasma-based products. A 15.6% share would make the combined company
the largest non-state owned business in the sector. The plasma business remains
very fragmented: the six largest China companies in the sector (including
Qianfeng) have a total market share of only about 50%. China Biologic projects
synergies between the two entities, though it did not estimate a dollar value
for them.
Three Rivers Pharmaceuticals, a privately held firm based in
Pennsylvania, obtained the right to sell Infergen in China, beginning March 31,
2009 (see
story).
Infergen, also known as consensus interferon, is a bio-optimized, selective and
potent type 1 interferon alpha indicated for patients with chronic hepatitis C.
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. However, in December 2007,
Three Rivers paid $91.3 million to buy the US and Canadian rights to Infergen
from Valeant (NYSE:
VRX). Infergen was developed by Amgen (NSDQ:
AMGN) and approved by the FDA in 1997. Three Rivers bought the
Infergen rights as part of a package that gives the company a worldwide license
to sell the product, with the exception of Japan. Three Rivers said it would
contract with other firms to market the products outside the US.
