WuXi AppTec, China’s largest CRO/CMO, will acquire a global clinical-stage contract research company, ResearchPoint Global, of Austin,Texas (see story). Founded in 1999, RPG has 450 employees in 60 countries spread out over Africa, the Americas, Europe and Israel. The company offers a full range of clinical CRO services to small and medium-sized pharmas. WuXi said the acquisition would extend its CRO network around the world. WuXi already has a 500-person China clinical CRO and a clinical research coordinator team with 1,000 employees. Financial details were not disclosed.
Shenzhen Hepalink (SHE: 002399) announced a US$69 million investment into Canada’s Resverlogix (TSX: RVX) via a private placement that will raise Hepalink’s stake in Resverlogix to 45% (see story). Resverlogix is currently conducting a Phase III trial of apabetalone (RVX-208), a first-in-class, small molecule BET (bromodomain and extra-terminal) inhibitor. Resverlogix expects RVX-208 to raise a patient’s high-density cholesterol. Hepalink began as a global supplier of heparin API, which is sourced from pig intestines.
Eargo, a Silicon Valley direct-to-consumer hearing aid company, closed the first tranche of a $45 million Series C round, led by Hong Kong’s NanFung Life Sciences Fund (see story). The round included investors New Enterprise Associates, Charles and Helen Schwab, and Maveron. Eargo makes a small, nearly invisible hearing aid that it says is comfortable and rechargeable. The device, which costs just under $2,000 per pair, is a Class I, FDA-regulated product.
Prenetics Limited raised $40 million to expand its pan-Asia DNA testing service aimed at individuals (see story). Prenetics is based in Hong Kongas are Beyond Ventures and the Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, the two investment firms that led the round. Currently, Prenetics offers four separate DNA tests, and the company says it has processed nearly 200,000 DNA samples since it was founded in 2015.
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