Isotechnika shares surge on China development pact

Highlighting the emerging role of China's drug developers, Canada's Isotechnika Pharma has inked a development pact with 3SBio, earning a $6 million payment and a bump in its share price.

3SBio is paying $1.5 million upfront and making a $4.5 million investment in Isotechnika in exchange for the Chinese autoimmune and transplant-related development rights to voclosporin. Isotechnika shares jumped 42 percent on the news, but only topped out at about 30 cents. The developer has been struggling for the past two years to recover from Roche's decision to drop its partnership on the drug.

"Along with Isotechnika, we are committed to bringing this innovative medicine to China's approximately 100,000 transplant recipients, a population which is growing by about 10,000 new patients per year," said 3SBio Chief Executive, Jing Lou. China represents one of the biggest emerging drug markets on the planet and biotech companies only now are beginning to reap the benefits in new development pacts like these.

- here's the 3SBio release
- check out the Reuters report