The Third Annual ChinaBio® Partnering Forum 2011, held May 11-12 in
Beijing, exceeded expectations, growing 19% over last year's conference,
according to co-organizers ChinaBio® LLC and EBD Group (see
story).
This year's Partnering Forum was host to 658 attendees from 370
companies and 25 countries. More than 800 one-to-one meetings were held,
making this the largest and most productive life science conference in
China, according to the organizers.
Deals and Transactions
The highly anticipated Hong Kong IPO of Shanghai Pharma (SHA: 601607, HK: 2607) has been priced at HK$23 per share (see
story).
That's just below the midpoint of the announced range, a number that is
high enough to qualify the transaction as a success. The reason for the
sigh of relief is a string of Hong Kong IPOs that have floundered
recently, throwing a fearful pall over this debut, the biggest IPO in
Hong Kong this year. The transaction raised HK$15.3 billion ($2
billion).
Just before it completed its Hong Kong IPO, Shanghai
Pharma (SHA: 601607, HK: 2607) faced allegations of substandard quality
in one of its products (see
story).
Anhui Huayuan Pharmaceutical filed a formal complaint with the Hong
Kong Stock Exchange, alleging quality problems with an antibiotic
produced by two of its affiliates. Anhui Huayuan Pharma has been
distributing the antibiotic, known as Cefotiam, a third generation
beta-lactam cephalosporin, for the companies since 2004.
The
market for successful China VC funds is hot. The proof? Qiming Ventures
raised $450 million for its latest fund – not particularly surprising in
itself– but the firm needed just 10 days to top out its third fund, a
$450 million initiative (see
story).
That was $130 million more than the previous one. There's no mystery
about the reason for the company's success: exits from the first and
second funds are both numerous and profitable.
Walvax Biotechnology (SHE: 300142) has reportedly ended negotiations for a tie-up with GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:
GSK) because China regulators decided against allowing GSK to import its measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (MMR) (see
story).
The vaccine was the centerpiece of a JV that Walvax and GSK announced
two years ago, and a manufacturing facility was completed one year
later. It isn't immediately clear what "ending negotiations" means for
the fate of the facility.
Big Pharma in China
Takeda
Pharma (TO: 4502) of Japan wants to grow its China revenues by more
than 10 times before the end of 2015, according to the company's
President, Yasuchika Hasegawa (see
story).
It currently produces 3 billion yen ($37 million) of sales in the PRC.
To accomplish its goals, the company will invest "several tens of
billions of yen" in China over the next few years – with each ten
billion yen worth about $124 million. Takeda will also increase its
sales force from 250 representatives to 900.
Company News
ShangPharma (NYSE:
SHP),
the China CRO that completed its IPO on the NYSE last October,
announced its Q1 revenues climbed 26% to $24.8 million and net income
(GAAP) rose a somewhat smaller 10% to $3 million (see
story).
Results were in line with expectations. The company said higher
share-based compensation expenses, appreciation of the yuan, and higher
material costs kept a lid on profit, offsetting a rise in overall
efficiency.
Disclosure: none.