China has issued a slew of measures to encourage domestic developers by constraining overseas-made medical devices from entering the market. “Policies to guide medical institutions to give priority to the purchase of domestic medical devices and consumables can help Chinese manufacturers to acquire market share. This also encourages domestic manufacturers to continue improving technology to narrow the technology gap with foreign firms,” said Cai Mingzi, analyst at Kaiyuan Securities Co. Ltd., in a note.
MGI Tech Co. Ltd. raised ¥3.602 billion (US$518 million) on the Shanghai STAR Market. Shares (SHA: 688114) debuted at ¥87.18 apiece on the first trading day on Sept. 9. They closed at ¥124 per share on Sept. 14.
Leadinno Medical Valley Co. Ltd. reported it has raised more than ¥100 million (US$14.5 million) in a series A round for the development of its implantable electrical neurostimulation devices.
Shanghai Microport Ep Medtech Co. Ltd. went public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange STAR Market and raised ¥1.17 billion (US$169.5 million) with its initial public offering. The company’s issue price was ¥16.51 per share. After opening at ¥15.50 per share, the share price dived to ¥13.15 at the closing of its first trading day. Microport Ep is an associated company of the Hong Kong-listed Microport Scientific Corp.
For the first time since they’ve had access to U.S. capital, biopharma and med-tech companies based in China and Hong Kong are having to comply with the same accountability standards companies in the U.S. and other countries must follow as a condition of trading on U.S. markets.
Shanghai Aitrox Technology Co. Ltd. (Fosun Aitrox) completed strategic financing of over ¥100 million (US$14.8 million) to develop its pipelines in artificial intelligence (AI)-aided diagnosis platforms. This financing was led by Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co. Ltd. and Sinopharm-CICC (Shanghai) Private Equity Investment Management Co. Ltd.
Despite new laws and enforcement efforts, protecting intellectual property (IP) rights in China remains a big challenge for companies based in the U.S. and other countries. A case in point is China’s new patent law that came into effect in June 2021. The law provides for patent term extensions and adjustments, an important consideration for the biopharma industry since the launch of drugs in China could be hampered by long regulatory review times.
As biopharma and med-tech companies grapple with restrictive data privacy laws in the EU and China while trying to meet the demand for greater diversity reflective of the U.S. population, there’s been more of an interest in conducting clinical trials in the U.S., Stacy Amin, a partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP, told BioWorld.
Grand Pharmaceutical Group Ltd. acquired about 11% of the equity of Xeltis AG and will introduce Xeltis’ Axess to the greater China markets. Axess is a restorative hemodialysis access graft used for arteriovenous graft (AVG) patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD).