NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Chinese pharmaceutical firm Fosun Pharma has made a $22.5 million investment into Saladax Biomedical, making it the largest shareholder in the assay development company.
Fosun has also inked an exclusive deal to distribute Saladax products in China, Adrienne Choma, COO of Saladax, confirmed to GenomeWeb Daily News.
Fosun, based in Shanghai, made the investment as part of a buy of Saladax's D-round offering of preferred stock. Saladax will use the investment to build its CLIA laboratory in Bethlehem, Pa., where the company is based, as well as to fund its entry into the US marketplace, Choma said. Additionally, the financing will be directed at supporting Saladax's commercialization efforts outside of the US and the building out of its product portfolio.
Choma declined to say what percentage of Saladax is now owned by Fosun.
Meanwhile, Shanghai Fosun Long March Medical Science, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fosun, will become Saladax's exclusive distributor of its MyCare portfolio of oncology dosing management assays in China. Choma declined to provide financial details about the deal.
The MyCare product line consists of My5-FU, MyPaclitaxel, and MyDocetaxel assays, which allow physicians to measure the levels of chemotherapy drugs in blood and adjust them as necessary so that patients can be maintained at an optimal therapeutic range.
Saladax recently regained the marketing rights to My5-FU from Myriad Genetics. It also announced a distribution deal with Transmedic for MyCare covering Singapore and Hong Kong.