Week In Review: ShangPharma Partners To Build Biologics Campus

Deals and Financings

ShangPharma, a Shanghai CRO/CMO, will partner with Qidong Biopharma Industrial Zone to build a $60 million biologics campus, including an R&D facility and state-of-the-art manufacturing plant (see story). The two facilities comprise the first stage in a project that is expected to include multiple phases. ShangPharma’s CRO division, ChemPartner, will be responsible for the R&D operation while ShangPharma’s CMO division, China Gateway Biologics, will be in charge of the commercial scale manufacturing facility. ShangPharma expects the manufacturing plant to be ready for client projects in 2018. 

Tendcare Medical Group, a China private hospital operator, received a $40 million investment from Olympus Capital Asia, a private equity company (see story). Tendcare, also known as Tian Jian Hua Xia Medical Group, currently operates six hospitals totaling over 2,400 beds, four pharmacies, two medical equipment companies and 17 clinics across five cities in China. The company will use the money to complete the acquisition of several additional hospitals, a process that is already under way.

Crystal Pharmatech, a Suzhou-New Jersey clinical research organization, raised $10 million in a Series A round led by Renren Lianhe Holdings, the investment arm of China social media company Renren (see story). Crystal Pharmatech will use the funds to develop its drug development operation, which centers on materials science along with solid drug screening and evaluation. 

Yabao Pharma (SHA: 600351) added another project to its development portfolio of innovative drugs by in-licensing greater China rights to a candidate for stroke treatment from Primary Peptides of Vancouver (see story). Primary Peptides, which develops peptides that inhibit protein-protein interaction, says the K13 peptide was effective in animal models, even if administered as long as six hours after stroke onset. Yabao is busy on the deal-making front. One week ago, it announced a collaboration with the University of South Australia to develop new cancer drugs.