Profex, Inc., a dermatology drug company headquartered in Shanghai, raised $15.5 million in a Series A financing. The round was led by Trident Capital, an international venture capital firm, and joined by Mustang Ventures, Trident’s partner in China venture investing. The new capital will be used to increase the company’s sales efforts and to extend its geographical reach inside China. More details...

China Botanic Development Holdings Limited paid 23.6 million RMB ($3.4 million) to purchase all of Guangdong Kangli Pharmaceutical Company Limited, a company involved in the direct sales of medicine, health care products and equipment in China. China Botanic is a manufacturer of packaged foods, but it has recently been diversifying into pharmaceuticals. China Botanic was drawn to Guangdong Kangli because the company has a license to sell health care products directly to consumers and another license to sell pharmaceuticals on the internet. More details...
Stock Symbol: (HKEX: 2349)

Last week, The South China Morning Post reported that the China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) and CITIC Pharmaceutical Group plan IPOs. The Sinopharm offering would raise up to $750 million. The article said Sinopharm’s IPO would take place in Q4, and the shares would be listed on the Hong Kong exchange. Sinopharm, a state-owned enterprise, is the largest pharmaceutical distribution company in China. Immediately after the item appeared, a spokesperson from Sinopharm denied the report, saying the company hopes to make an IPO eventually, but has not set a definite time. More details...

Stock Symbol: (SH: 600511)

Biomics Biotechnologies (Nantong) Co., a company focused on RNAi drug R&D, closed a Series B funding of 34 million RMB ($5 million) on July 31 2008. The financing follows the company’s $3.5 million Series A round of January 2007, according to Zero2IPO. The B round was led by Jiangsu Dinghong Venture Capital Co., Ltd., with Jiangsu Benefit Rise Group also participating. More details...

Beijing Beilu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., a company that is focused on traditional Chinese medicines, raised 66.6 million RMB ($9.7 million) by issuing 12.5 million shares to seven investors. The largest block went to Infotech Pacific Ventures, which took down 7.5 million shares for 40 million RMB ($5.8 million). After the refinancing, Infotech was the fourth largest shareholder in Beilu, owning almost 15% of the total shares outstanding. The funding gives the company a post-money valuation of $39 million. More details...

Venturepharm Group has established a collaboration with Canadian biotech Lorus Therapeutics to develop Lorus’ portfolio of cancer drugs. Lorus has eight molecules in its pipeline. Venturepharm also announced that it has absorbed Acesys Pharmatech, a Nanjing global drug discovery CRO with about 70 chemists, into its China-located Exelgen operation. More details...

Stock Symbols: (AMEX: LRP) (HKSE: 8225) (NSDQ: CBTE)

Venturepharm Laboratories Limited, based in Beijing but listed in Hong Kong as a subsidiary of Venturepharm Holdings, has become the largest shareholder of the NASDAQ listed CRO, Commonwealth Biotechnologies Inc. Venturepharm purchased 43.65% of the outstanding common shares of CBI. By completing this sale, Venturepharm follows a pattern in which China-based CROs make deals with complementary companies located in the US. More details...

Stock Symbols: (HKEX: 8225) (NSDQ: CBTE)

Schering-Plough Corporation bought the 45% of its majority-owned China JV, Shanghai Schering-Plough Pharmaceutical, that it did not already own. Its former partners, Shanghai Pharmaceutical Group and Shanghai Pharmaceutical Industry Corporation, put the 45% stake up for sale in May, saying they wanted to streamline their business into fewer subsidiaries. At the time, the two companies were asking 66.3 million RMB ($9.6 million) for their stake. Schering-Plough did not disclose the final price. More details...

Stock Symbol: (NYSE: SGP)

American Oriental Bioengineering, Inc. announced in its Q2 earnings announcement that it signed a letter of intent to acquire an unnamed China pharmaceutical distribution company. In the follow-up earnings call with analysts, management said that it would pay $110 million to purchase a company with $550 million in annual revenues. In response to questions, American Oriental refused to disclose the profitability of the company. However, the company did say that margins for the potential acquisition are “above the industry standard,” which is usually below 5%. The company also announced much higher revenues and profits in its Q2 report. More details...

Stock Symbol: (NYSE: AOB)

China Medical Technologies will offer $150 million in convertible senior notes, due 2013. The company will use the proceeds for general corporate purposes and for the acquisitions of businesses, products and/or technologies. As part of the offering, China Medical will also set up a complicated hedging mechanism for the buyers of the notes.  More details...

Stock Symbol: (NSDQ: CMED)