In a quiet week that was constrained by the Thanksgiving Day holiday in the US,
news flow from China biopharma slowed, but refused to disappear entirely. Last
week’s articles show that, despite a worldwide economic crisis, deals continue
to be done in the China biopharma sector. Meanwhile, the government of China
stepped up to the stimulus plate, promising to spend 4.8 billion RMB ($702
million) on the infrastructure of rural healthcare (see
story). "Eventually
every village or township will have at least one clinic," said Ministry of
Health spokesman Mao Qun'an. The money will be spent on new buildings and
medical equipment in more than 13,000 clinics and hospitals throughout rural
China. It comes as part of a 21.7 billion RMB ($3.2 billion) rural health
initiative, which was announced in 2006. The goal of the plan is to fully
overhaul China’s rural health care network by 2010. The spending was also part
of the economic stimulus announced by China to counteract the current economic
slowdown.
In an announcement that shows the continuing consolidation of
the worldwide CRO industry, Tigermed Consulting Co. (??????????), a China CRO
that specializes in clinical trial management, announced new partnerships with
two other CROs: OCT in Russia and LSK in Korea (see
story). The new
partnerships will help Tigermed establish a global clinical trial network,
increasing the company’s offerings for multinational and China pharmas. OCT is
headquartered in Saint Petersburg. It conducts clinical studies in Russia,
Ukraine and other Eastern European countries. Tigermed reasons the OCT
partnership will aid China biopharmas that wish to sell their products in
Eastern European markets. LSK, based in Seoul, provides CRO services in Korea,
Japan, Taiwan and Malaysia, another group of markets that are attractive to
China biopharmas.
Big pharma also increased its collaborative
relationships with China biopharma last week. Eli Lilly (NYSE:
LLY)
has expanded its drug discovery and development partnership with Hutchison China
Meditech Ltd (LSE: HCM), adding another oncology target to the agenda (see
story). When the
two companies set up their partnership last year, the initial areas of
concentration were specified targets in oncology and inflammation. For its work,
Hutchison MediPharma, the drug discovery division of China Meditech, will
receive an up-front payment, plus potential fees and royalties on worldwide
sales of any products resulting from the collaboration. Further financial
details were not disclosed.
