China Resources Pharmaceutical (HK: 3320) filed with the Hong Kong exchange to raise $368.5 million in an investment fund (see story). The fund will be run by its subsidiary, CR Pharm (Shantou). It will make equity investments in China pharma companies, though it was not disclosed whether the fund’s character will be venture or private equity. CR Pharm, China’s second-largest drugmaker, staged a $1.8 billion IPO in Hong Kong last year. Three of its subsidiaries are listed companies inChina.
Chi-Med (Hutchison China MediTech) (AIM/Nasdaq: HCM) announced a $262 million secondary offering of American Depository Shares (see story). Underwriters will have a 30-day option to purchase an additional $39.3 million of ADSs at the offering price, bringing the total to $301.3 million. Chi-Med will use the funds to continue developing its portfolio of novel drugs, the “Innovation Platform” as the company calls it. It did not identify any specific large projects that the new capital would underwrite. Pricing of the offering has not been set.
Maxhealth Medicine of Wuxi, China struck a deal with Switzerland’s Legacy Healthcare to commercialize Legacy’s CG 210 in Mainland China and Macao (see story). CG210 is a botanical treatment for hair loss that has been shown to slow the rate of hair loss. Legacy develops innovative patentable botanical drugs in oncology supportive care and dermatology. Maxhealth, which commercializes drugs and medical devices in China, made an investment in Legacy, though financial details were not disclosed.
Trials and Approvals
Tianjin CanSino Biologics announced CFDA approval of its Ebola virus vaccine for China (see story). The vaccine was discovered by the Bioengineering Institute of the Chinese Academy of Military Medical Sciences, which asked CanSino to be its development and commercialization Log Out partner in 2014. Two years ago, CanSino began construction of a $317 million facility to produce vaccines. The facility, which is due to be completed next year, will make the Ebola vaccine along with other CanSino vaccines (pneumonia, meningitis and tuberculosis).
