One of China’s Largest Pharmaceutical Companies to Commercialize SemBioSys’ Plant-Based Manufacturing Technology in Global Joint Venture
CALGARY, Oct. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - SemBioSys Genetics Inc. (TSX:SBS), today announced that it has signed a product and platform development collaboration agreement (the “Agreement”) with Tasly Pharmaceuticals, Ltd (“Tasly”) of Tianjin China and its wholly owned subsidiary Tasly U.S. Upon receiving government approval, a new Company based in China called Tasly-SemBioSys Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., will be incorporated in Tianjin, China, the third largest city in China. This Agreement is the most comprehensive partnering commercialization endeavor in SemBioSys’ history.
SemBioSys is a biotechnology company that utilizes its renewable, patented plant seed oil body and protein expression technology platforms to develop and make high value proteins and oils and drug candidates for health and wellness products.
Tasly is one of China’s largest pharmaceutical companies and is China’s second largest producer of traditional Chinese medicines (“TCM”), which are derived from plants. Its lead drug, Tasly Cardiotonic pill, is the number one selling TCM in China and has held that position for the last seven years. In 2010, Tasly recorded revenues of 4.65 billion RMB with a ten year compounded growth rate of 21%. Tasly also has significant operations in the United States, Africa, South East Asia and the UK with its partner. Beijing International Group, an affiliate of Integrin Partners, acted as strategic advisor to Tasly on the transaction.
The new Company will be structured as a Sino-Foreign Equity Joint Venture (the “Joint Venture”), and will develop and commercialize a variety of products including pharmaceutical, functional foods and nutraceuticals for China and the world. Development work on the first products will begin immediately.
“Tasly brings a rich practice of developing and modernizing China’s highest quality and best selling TCMs, which makes them an ideal business partner to globally develop our plant-based protein, high value oils and drug manufacturing technology,” said James Szarko, President and CEO of SemBioSys. “Our mutual respect and understanding of one another’s uniquely suited capabilities, provides us with the potential to have a dramatic impact on the Chinese and global market by delivering a number of high quality products with extremely competitive positioning within these markets.”
SemBioSys will be entititled to 30% ownership and profit sharing of the Joint Venture’s profits for contributing global rights to develop and manufacture its plant made insulin and insulin analogues (excluding select territories in which SemBioSys is already engaged in active development discussions), as well as licensing rights to research and development activities of additional products for the pharmaceutical and healthy living markets.
Tasly will contribute 100 per cent of the cost of the Joint Venture’s global research, development and product commercialization. Further, Tasly will facilitate preclinical, clinical, regulatory services, manufacturing and commercial expertise and utilize its significant sales force to commercialize the Joint Venture’s products in China. Its sales force covers most Chinese hospitals, retail pharmacies and direct to consumer markets with a total of 60,000 representatives. Outside China, the Tasly sales division has a growing presence in Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Vietnam, South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya. In addition, Tasly U.S. announced in July that it is purchasing a 450,000 square foot facility in Rockville, MD and investing US$40 million in the new facility for the manufacture of its cardiovascular drug in preparation for Phase III clinical trials in the U.S.
Chairman Yan of Tasly Group Stated, “The collaboration between Tasly and SemBioSys innovates the application of plant transgenic technology to the pharmaceutical, healthcare and cosmetic industries, makes its safer and more cost-effective, and paves a new path forward for agricultural based products. I believe that Tasly-SemBioSys Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., through the powerful combination of the two giants, will have very broad development prospects and expand around the globe with China’s huge market potential.”
The parties have actively worked for over a year developing their relationship and planning the Joint Venture and will work expeditiously to finalize product development plans and future research products.
ABOUT TASLY PHARMACEUTICALS LTD.
Tasly Pharmaceuticals, based in Tianjin, China, was founded in May 1994. Through its development, Tasly has become a high-tech group whose scope of businesses includes modern TCMs, chemical & biological drugs, healthcare products and functional foods. The Company has a large research institute and oversees its own product development, planting, manufacturing, commercial sales and distribution. Tasly manufactures and sells its traditional Chinese medicines, generic drugs, vaccines and personal care products in China and in several other countries around the world. Tasly entered a drug-wholesaling Venture with the UK’s Co-operative Group in 2007. For more information about the Company, please visit www.tasly.com.
ABOUT SEMBIOSYS GENETICS INC.
Calgary, Alberta-based SemBioSys is a development stage agricultural biotechnology Company that utilizes its patented plant seed based oil body and genetic expression technology platforms to develop high value proteins and oils and drug candidates in oil seed producing plant species. SemBioSys’ seed-based protein and oil expression system can enable exceptionally low cost of production with unprecedented scalability and reliability. SemBioSys is focusing the platform through global partnerships to develop a variety of products ranging from pharmaceuticals, functional foods ingredients, enzymes, high value and industrial oils with tremendous commercial value. In conjunction with its current partners, the company has developed Nutritional Oils, Ingredients for all natural Cosmetics and Food Enzymes. The Company’s current pharmaceutical development programs include insulin (SBS-1000, in clinical development and regulated as a biosimilar in Europe) and Apo AIMilano, a new chemical entity and prospective next-generation cardiovascular therapy with blockbuster revenue potential if approved for the treatment of atherosclerosis. SemBioSys’ Apo AIMilano is a des-1, 2- variant of Apo AIMilano as previously described in scientific literature. SemBioSys is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker SBS. More information is available at www.sembiosys.com.
ABOUT INTEGRIN PARTNERS & BEIJING INTERNATIONAL GROUP
Integrin Partners (Newton, MA) identifies investment opportunities for and provides strategic and operational consulting services to life science companies, investment banks, venture funds, and entrepreneurs. Its affiliate, Beijing International Group, with offices in Beijing, China, provides similar services throughout Asia. For more information, please visitwww.integrinpartners.com or email info@integrinpartners.com.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements containing the words “believe”, “may”, “plan”, “will”, “estimate”, “continue”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “expect” and other similar expressions which constitute “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s current expectation and assumptions, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to the fact that, the Company is a development stage entity and currently relies on investment and not profits to fund it operations. The Company’s ability to continue to secure and attract future strategic and investment capital. The Company’s’ ability to continue to successfully development its existing and future product candidates or commercialize them. The Company’s exposure to changing global market dynamics, addressable markets and global regulatory environments required to register and market its product candidates. The acceptance of IND’s by the FDA in respect of clinical studies, the submission of CTA’s to the appropriate European authorities, the successful initiation and timely and successful completion of clinical studies, the fact that Apo AIMilano is currently a development stage drug, the establishment of future corporate alliances and partnerships, the impact of competitive products and pricing, new product development, uncertainties related to the regulatory approval process and other risks detailed from time-to-time in the Company’s ongoing filings with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities which filings can be found at www.sedar.com. On June 17, 2011, at our Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders, shareholders unanimously approved a special resolution, approving an amendment to the Company’s articles of incorporation to consolidate its issued and outstanding Common Shares. This provides the board of directors of the Company the authority, in its discretion, prior to June 17, 2012, to select the exact consolidation ration, provided that (i) the ration may be no smaller than one post-consolidation Share for every (8) pre-consolidation Common Shares and no larger than one post-consolidation Share for every thirty (30) pre-consolidation Common Shares, and (ii) the number of pre-consolidation Common Shares in the ratio must be a whole number of common shares. There is no current plan to effect such a Share Consolidation. However, if under take, the Company’s total market capitalization immediately after the proposed consolidation may be lower than immediately before the proposed consolidation. A decline in the Common Shares after a Share Consolidation may result in a greater percentage decline than would occur in the absence of a consolidation, and the liquidity of the Common Shares could be adversely affected following such a consolidation. In addition, the consolidation may result in some shareholders owning “odd lots” of less than 100 Shares, on a post-consolidation basis, which may be difficult or more expensive to sell on a per share basis, than a round lot of shares. These are only some of the risks associated with a potential Share Consolidation. Further risks and regarding the Company are set out in the annual information from found at www.sedar.com. Given these risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements either as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable Canadian securities laws.
SOURCE SemBioSys Genetics Inc.
