Deals and Financings

OrbiMed filed with the SEC to raise $450 million for its third Asia-focused fund, OrbiMed Asia Partners III (see story). Originally formed in 1989, OrbiMed maintains a strictly life science focus globally, with $13 billion under management and investments from early stage to private and public equity. The company opened offices in Shanghai and Mumbai in 2007 and now runs over $500 million in investments from its first two Asia funds. OrbiMed’s Asia II partnership closed in 2014 with $325 million. The company says it considers investments in all sectors of life science, from biopharmaceuticals to medical devices, diagnostics and healthcare services. 

Surefire Medical of Colorado, a company developing site-specific microcatheters for delivery of oncology drugs, raised $12.8 million in a D round led by ORI Healthcare Fund of Hong Kong (see story). One of the uses of the new capital will be to start clinical trials and sales of Surefire’s medical devices in China. Surefire claims that the expandable tip of its microcatheter increases pressure within the tumor and delivers more drug to the tumor than the competition, while decreasing delivery to surrounding tissue. 

Pharmaron, a Beijing CRO, signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories Clinical Pharmacology Center of Maryland (see story). SNBL CPC, which opened in 2005, provides moderate and highly complex Phase I/II clinical development services in the University of Maryland BioPark. It has completed over 200 studies. Shin Nippon will retain a minority stake in the lab. The Maryland facility will be integrated with Pharmaron’s existing US clinical CROs in Louisville, Kentucky and Los Angeles, plus a facility in the UK. 

Singapore’s ASLAN Pharma formed an R&D collaboration with the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI) and National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS) to assess the potential of ASLAN003 as a treatment for hematologic cancers (see story). ASLAN originally in-licensed global rights to the molecule as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis from Spain’s Almirall Pharma. In early 2016, ASLAN expanded the indications to include cancer. ASLAN has been approved to list on Taiwan’s main board, though it hasn’t listed as yet. 

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