You know how you've been hearing how CROs in China are expanding? Well, Newsummit Biopharma is the latest example of that trend. The Shanghai company has filed plans in the U.S. for an $80 million initial public offering and said it wants to use the cash infusion "for strategic acquisitions and investments."
The company claims in its F-1 filing to have jumped from 50 clients at the end of December 2009 to nearly 120 by Dec. 31, 2011. Newsummit bills itself as a one-stop-shop for drug developers seeking services from the clinical stage all the way to hoped-for approval before Chinese regulators. Plans also call for adding post-approval services, Dow Jones Newswires reports.
Newsummit hopes to reach international pharmaceutical companies and others seeking to tap into the Chinese market with its projects, the company says in its filing. Conversely, it hopes to give Chinese companies and others a new way to develop and internationalize compounds that originate in its native country--and make connections in the process.
"We also actively develop strategic cooperation with overseas pharmaceutical companies and contract research organizations to facilitate clinical trials, registration and commercialization in overseas markets for new drug candidates from China," Newsummit noted.
The company described its client base as mostly drug discovery companies that have completed basic discovery and generated promising data or patents, but "generally lack the various resources and expertise in managing and navigating through the regulatory submission process for their new drug development projects."
Newsummit is growing fast, having generated a $78,000 profit in the 6 months that ended June 30, up from a $2.6 million loss the previous year. The company nearly tripled revenue over that period to $23.6 million, Dow Jones reported.
- here's the F-1
- read the Dow Jones story