Chi-Med Rumoured Close to Signing Major Deal
by Richard Daverman, PhD
ChinaBio Today
Cancer Partnership Will Set Record in China
Hutchinson China MediTech (London AIM: HCM), commonly known as Chi-Med, is expected to soon announce that it will partner in a major drug discovery deal. This would not be the first time. Last year, Chi-Med signed a deal with the German Merck to discover and develop cancer drugs.
This latest deal, according to published sources, would be the biggest deal ever for Chinese biopharma. In the words of the CEO of Chi-Med, Christian Hogg, the partnership will be worth “tens of millions.” It will target cancer drugs, though details are not yet available. The timeline calls for a deal to be signed within six months, according to Hogg. Usually, deals are not discussed until signed. It was not clear why Hogg disclosed as much as he did.
Chi-Med is a mixture of Traditional Chinese Medicines and western-style biopharma. It has one division, Shanghai Hutchinson Pharmaceuticals, which produces the herbal drugs that the Chinese have been taking for years. The second arm, Hutchinson MediPharma, located in Shanghai’s Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, seeks to discover in its large library of 10,000 compounds any drugs that could be successfully used to treat diseases like cancer and cardiovascular disorders, testing them in the usual clinical trial process.
The goal is to find a natural product with verifiable efficacy, much like aspirin, which was derived from the willow bark, and the cancer drug Taxol that came from the bark of the Pacific yew tree. Novartis (NVS) used this approach when it developed the anti-malarial drug Coartem. The Chinese had long used wormwood to treat fever, and Coartem combined artemisinin, an extract from wormwood, with the compound lumefantrine.
Chi-Med is a part of the vast Hutchinson Wampoa (HUWHY.PK) juggernaut, headquartered in Hong Kong, a conglomerate that is probably better known for its operations in international ports, mobile phone networks and oil. But its founder, the legendary 78-year-old Sir Li Ka-shing, thinks pharmaceuticals are one of the growth industries of the future. So, beginning around 2000, he made a few adroit purchases of existing traditional Chinese medicines companies and then began building—from scratch—the western style biopharma company that accompanies it.
Li hired Hogg as his CEO for the enterprise. Hogg had experience in China as a product development manager for Proctor & Gamble. Hogg, in turn, found scientists of Chinese origin who were working for western biopharmas, and lured them back to China.
In 2006, a 28% share of Chi-Med began trading on the London AIM exchange, while the controlling 72% interest remains in the corporate hands of Hutchinson Wampoa. The IPO raised 40 million pounds or $76.2 million for Chi-Med.
In its western medicine division, Chi-Med has two drugs in clinical development: one for ulcerative colitis/Crohn’s disease and another that increases sensitivity to radiation in patients undergoing radiotherapy for cancer. The latter’s target is specifically for head and neck cancer.
Currently, the TCM division is the major producer of revenue for Chi-Med, bringing in $57.5 million in 2006. The biggest seller is Ban Lan Gen, a root-based cold and flu medicine. The company also has a division that brings TCM to the United Kingdom with an upscale flair. Overall, despite the revenue, Chi-Med lost $8.1 million last year.
Source: ChinaBioToday.com
RELATED READING:
- Sinovac Biotech: A Bird Flu Play
- China Gets Serious about Drug and Food Safety
BioHealth Investor.com
_______________________
ChinaBio Today
Cancer Partnership Will Set Record in China
Hutchinson China MediTech (London AIM: HCM), commonly known as Chi-Med, is expected to soon announce that it will partner in a major drug discovery deal. This would not be the first time. Last year, Chi-Med signed a deal with the German Merck to discover and develop cancer drugs.
This latest deal, according to published sources, would be the biggest deal ever for Chinese biopharma. In the words of the CEO of Chi-Med, Christian Hogg, the partnership will be worth “tens of millions.” It will target cancer drugs, though details are not yet available. The timeline calls for a deal to be signed within six months, according to Hogg. Usually, deals are not discussed until signed. It was not clear why Hogg disclosed as much as he did.
Chi-Med is a mixture of Traditional Chinese Medicines and western-style biopharma. It has one division, Shanghai Hutchinson Pharmaceuticals, which produces the herbal drugs that the Chinese have been taking for years. The second arm, Hutchinson MediPharma, located in Shanghai’s Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, seeks to discover in its large library of 10,000 compounds any drugs that could be successfully used to treat diseases like cancer and cardiovascular disorders, testing them in the usual clinical trial process.
The goal is to find a natural product with verifiable efficacy, much like aspirin, which was derived from the willow bark, and the cancer drug Taxol that came from the bark of the Pacific yew tree. Novartis (NVS) used this approach when it developed the anti-malarial drug Coartem. The Chinese had long used wormwood to treat fever, and Coartem combined artemisinin, an extract from wormwood, with the compound lumefantrine.
Chi-Med is a part of the vast Hutchinson Wampoa (HUWHY.PK) juggernaut, headquartered in Hong Kong, a conglomerate that is probably better known for its operations in international ports, mobile phone networks and oil. But its founder, the legendary 78-year-old Sir Li Ka-shing, thinks pharmaceuticals are one of the growth industries of the future. So, beginning around 2000, he made a few adroit purchases of existing traditional Chinese medicines companies and then began building—from scratch—the western style biopharma company that accompanies it.
Li hired Hogg as his CEO for the enterprise. Hogg had experience in China as a product development manager for Proctor & Gamble. Hogg, in turn, found scientists of Chinese origin who were working for western biopharmas, and lured them back to China.
In 2006, a 28% share of Chi-Med began trading on the London AIM exchange, while the controlling 72% interest remains in the corporate hands of Hutchinson Wampoa. The IPO raised 40 million pounds or $76.2 million for Chi-Med.
In its western medicine division, Chi-Med has two drugs in clinical development: one for ulcerative colitis/Crohn’s disease and another that increases sensitivity to radiation in patients undergoing radiotherapy for cancer. The latter’s target is specifically for head and neck cancer.
Currently, the TCM division is the major producer of revenue for Chi-Med, bringing in $57.5 million in 2006. The biggest seller is Ban Lan Gen, a root-based cold and flu medicine. The company also has a division that brings TCM to the United Kingdom with an upscale flair. Overall, despite the revenue, Chi-Med lost $8.1 million last year.
Source: ChinaBioToday.com
RELATED READING:
- Sinovac Biotech: A Bird Flu Play
- China Gets Serious about Drug and Food Safety
BioHealth Investor.com
_______________________
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