Sinobioway taps into US biotechnology industry

Sionbioway Group Co, Ltd, a major biotech company in China, has been seeking partnerships with US biotech companies through technology and capital investments to help realize its goal of starting a revolution in the bioindustry.

Sinobioway and BioAtla LLC, a San Diego-based company focused on the development of Conditionally Active Biologic (CAB) antibody therapeutics, are working collaboratively to develop several CAB candidates for the Chinese market.

In May 2015, the two companies entered into a strategic collaboration for the development and commercialization of select CAB antibodies and other CAB-based therapeutics in China.

Under the agreement, the companies selected their first product programs for development in January this year. BioAtla also received $19 million in program payments and equity investment from Sinobioway as part of a total of more than $70 million in payments and investment from Sinobioway over the next 12 months.

As part of the agreement, Sinobioway has exclusive rights to develop and commercialize selected CAB antibodies in China.

"Collaboration with overseas companies means more than just marketing products. Sinobioway aims to find the best technologies and best partners through direct investment," said Alex Zhang, investment and financing director of Sinobioway.

"Some innovative companies in the US have very limited resources in capital, manufacturing and marketing. A partnership with Chinese companies like Sinobioway means they have access to China's huge market and production capacity," he said, adding that an office would open in June in San Diego to facilitate investment and potential partnerships.

The strategic collaboration between Sinobioway and BioAtla is considered the keystone of both companies' long-term plans to address the growing high demand for innovative therapeutic products in the China pharmaceutical market.

"China is an immensely important opportunity for CABs and we are excited to be working with Sinobioway with its demonstrated commitment and strong capabilities to execute and to fulfill our mutual goals," said Jay Short, president and CEO of BioAtla, in a statement.

Sinobioway has also collaborated with Baylor College of Medicine to introduce the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy technology, a breakthrough to tumor treatment, to China.

At a cost of about $30.5 million, Sinobioway has built a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facility for cell preparation and a molecular biology lab for product testing.

By collaborating with leading local hospitals in China, the company said "great results" have been achieved in treating acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Burkitt lymphoma, pancreatic cancer and neuroblastoma.

Founded in 1992,Sinobiowayis affiliated with Peking University and headquartered in the 20-heactare Peking University Biocity, which houses the company's administration and R&D operations.

Encompassing more than 50 subsidiaries, Sinobioway's businesses span biomedicine, bioagriculture, bioenergy, bioenvironment, bioservice, biomanufacturing and biointelligence.

More than a dozen manufacturing bases have been built across China and five major ones are being constructed, with each of them is, or will be, the world's largest of its kind, said the company.

Among them, the Bantang Bioeconomy Experimental Zone in Hefei, Anhui province, is expected to have 100 production lines on completion and will meet the GMP requirements of China, the US, the World Health Organization and the European Union, according to the company.

Placing a premium on the R&D of new drugs and the advancement of its biomedical technology, Sinobioway is constructing a highly efficient R&D system, or what Pan Aihua, chairman of Sinobioway, called "new drug expressway", to address health issues.

Expected to be completed by 2025, the system aims to cut the average R&D cost to less than $50 million and shorten the pharmaceutical development cycle to eight years from the current 10 to 15 years, obtaining approval for about 25 new drugs annually.

"I believe in the coming decade or two, we human beings will enter the era of bioeconomy," said Pan. "Sinoboiway aims to become a flagship of the bioeconomy and will lead the next wave of industrial revolution."