点击显示 收起
MicuRx公司募集了2500万美元风险投资来支持其处于中期研究的抗生素研究。这家中美合作的生物技术公司试图走出一条低成本的研发道路。本轮募资由中国的风投机构BVCF主导，其余投资者还包括了Morningside Group等公司。公司通过采用美国-中国联合研发的模式，成功将公司开发的口服治疗革兰氏阳性抗药菌的新型抗生素MRX-I的一期临床试验完成。MRX-I的二期实验将在中国启动，同时在美国也会进行同步研究以保证实验顺利完成。
MicuRx公司于2007年进行第一次融资，创始人来自Vicuron公司。今年来，中国的医药研发实力不断增强，吸引了国内外许多投资者的目光。尽管最近跨国药企在中国惹上诸多麻烦，投资者们仍然看好中国医药市场，并希望在未来分一杯羹。
详细英文报道：
MicuRx--a U.S./China hybrid biotech touting a low-cost approach to research--has raised $25 million in venture cash to back its mid-stage research work on a new antibiotic.
China venture group BVCF stepped in to lead the round, supported by existing investors Morningside Group and Devon Park Bioventures. They're backing the parallel development of MRX-I, an oral oxazolidinone antibiotic targeting infections triggered by multidrug resistant Gram-positive bacteria, in the U.S. and China. MicuRx has facilities in Hayward, CA, and Shanghai. And the CEO boasts that the global strategy is lean and mean.
"Using a U.S.-China hybrid discovery and development model, MicuRx successfully completed design and optimization of its novel oxazolidinone drug candidates and advanced MRX-I through Phase I clinical trials with a fraction of the capital required through a traditional operating model in the U.S.," says CEO Zhengyu Yuan in a statement. "With the initiation of Phase II clinical trials in China, through the joint venture Shanghai MengKe Pharmaceuticals with Shanghai Zhangjiang Biomedical Industry Venture Capital, we look forward to initiating development of MRX-I through a Phase II clinical trial at selected centers in the U.S. to ensure successful development of this compound internationally."
MicuRx rounded up $10 million for its Series A back in 2007. MicuRx was founded by two former execs at Vicuron, which was snapped up by Pfizer in 2005 for $1.9 billion. In 2010 they struck a deal with Pfizer to develop a new treatment to fight drug-resistant tuberculosis. That deal reportedly was terminated not long after it began, but there's no word of that on the company's web site.
Drug R&D in China has been booming in recent years, and a number of venture groups are paying close attention to the trend. Domain Associates launched a new China initiative in the spring aimed at fostering new biotechs in China and in-licensing U.S. technology. OrbiMed is also now looking to establish a $300 million Asian fund with a close eye to the market in China.
Although clouded by new investigations into widespread corruption among the multinational pharma companies operating in China, the R&D industry has been growing by leaps and bounds. China has invested a total of more than $160 billion in building its biotech industry, according to a new assessment from Lux Research. And with 15 clusters--including 5 fast-growing "super" clusters--the huge Asian market is poised to leap past Japan and take the number two spot in terms of overall R&D spending on drug development.
Taking a distinctly bullish tone, Lux reports that the fast-growing biotech sector is evolving from basic research toward late-stage efforts and commercialization as more drugs are approved for use in China. Over the past four years China's native R&D industry--distinct from the Big Pharma operations that have been growing there--has produced more than 3,000 patents and 12 new drugs. And the country's economic czars plan to see that number of innovative new drugs swell to 100 by 2020.