The caliber of the management team is a key consideration when deciding which pharmaceutical company to invest in, venture capitalists said at an industry forum held in Shanghai on July 7 and July 8. In recent years, China's pharmaceutical industry has emerged to become one of the biggest targets for both domestic and foreign venture capitalists, who are now a little more investment savvy. "Whenever we look at a pharmaceutical company, we always pay close attention to the management team first," said Kevin Li, partner at HBM BioMed China Ltd., at the ChinaBio® Investor Forum 2008 in Shanghai. More details...

Six patients, each of whom had been given human immunoglobulin from a specific batch manufactured by Jiangxi Yabo Bio-pharmaceutical, died in the few days following May 22.  Although drug-caused death seems a familiar story, the one had a new twist: the SFDA was very quick to follow up, identify the likely cause, and remove the remaining examples of the batch from the supply chain.  More details...

The FDA and Baxter International announced today that a heparin-like molecule found in Baxter’s supplies of heparin may be the culprit in the recent wave of heparin-caused side effects. Baxter, which produces half of the US supply of heparin, has recalled all of its heparin products. Between 5% and 20% of the raw material sampled seemed to be contaminated. The brouhaha has caused a call for more and better FDA inspections of foreign-sourced drugs and APIs, but that may be difficult to achieve.  More details...

Stock Symbol: (NYSE: BAX)

In 2008, there will be more joint venture deals done, but M&A has peaked – that’s the word from KPMG in the UK (sourced by Thomson Financial). Their report described the situation around the world and included all industries. The Asia-Pacific sector, where investment remains on the upswing, is not following the general trend. The increasing use of JVs worldwide is interesting for followers of China biotech since a JV is so often the structure of choice for biopharmas investing in China. KPMG's reasoning derives partly from an analysis of past data, but it also follows the dictates of logic. In the financial world, lending standards are tightening as lenders demand greater premiums for risk. That cuts into M&A and private equity deals. Still, businesses must do something to create growth, and JVs provide a low-risk, low-investment vehicle to accomplish this. More details...

For the readers of ChinaBio® Today, stories about the astonishing growth of China’s pharmaceutical industry are not news. Nevertheless, two articles have appeared this week that underscore just how large this phenomenon is. The Washington Post ran a story that was not specific for biopharma, but talked about the growing number of returnees.  A cover story from Chemical & Engineering News discusses in detail the China CRO situation, providing a lot of color behind the headline statistics. More details...

Stock Symbol: (NYSE: WX) 

A survey conducted among industry insiders picks China as the ex-US country likely to pocket the most in VC dollars over the course of 2008. In terms of industries, 15% of the respondents said biopharma would be the recipient of the largest amount of new investments. That was good for a solid second place, as 24% of those surveyed predicted that greentech/cleantech would garner the top industry spot. The respondents also noted a deep-seated change in venture capital investing, as the sector increasingly sees private equity funds active in the space. More details...

In a long article, eight researchers published in Nature Biotechnology a detailed survey of biotech in China, looking at its current condition and defining initiatives that would improve its growth. The article is part of a larger series of articles that investigate biopharma activity around the globe. While China has supported emerging biotechs with grants and subsidies,  the authors fault China for failing to provide exits for investors. More details...

In an interview with Interfax China, Greg Scott, Executive Editor of ChinaBio® Today, discusses investing in China biopharma, comparing the merits of pharmaceutical and medical device investment in China, and discussing also the state of China's Intellectual Property protection. More details…

At the ChinaBio® Investor Forum 2007 Greg B. Scott, Executive Editor of ChinaBio® Today, said investment continues to grow in the health care and biotech sectors, though it remains far behind the investment levels of the US. "Biotech and health care venture capital investment has grown by 19% to $50 million in China in Q3, and the average deal has nearly doubled to $10 million," Scott said, adding that angel investment is very small in China. "In contrast, the life science industry in the United States raised about $2 billion in venture capital investment last quarter, a figure that is roughly matched by the amount of angel investment in the industry," he said. Other observers weighed in with their own takes on the state of biopharma in China.  More details...