The Straits Times / The Business Times News on AsiaPharm
AsiaPharm in $16m deal for Chinese cancer drug
By ERICA TAY
Oct 25, 2006
The Straits Times
MAINBOARD-LISTED Chinese drugmaker AsiaPharm Group has acquired the drug CMNa, or sodium glycididazole, for 80 million yuan (S$16 million) from a Guangzhou firm.
CMNa is an approved chemical sensitiser for radiotherapy used in cancer treatment, and is awaiting approval by the Chinese authorities for use in chemotherapy, said AsiaPharm in a statement yesterday.
The deal includes the acquisition of CMNa's international and China patents, as well as its distribution channels, from Guangzhou's Lifetech Pharmaceuticals.
The drug was classified as a 'class one new drug' by China's State Food and Drug Administration and inhibits the recovery of cancer cells destroyed during radiation therapy, AsiaPharm said.
Approved in 2002, it was granted 12 years of administrative protection barring similar products in China.
It is available in 16 Chinese provinces.
AsiaPharm has also been given the option of buying Lifetech's existing plant in Guangzhou for 40 million yuan. This option may be exercised within five months of the CMNa acquisition.
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