ShangPharma Congratulates Morphic Therapeutic
July 1, 2016 – SHANGHAI – ShangPharma , a leading China-based pharmaceutical and biotechnology research and development platform company serving healthcare industry, congratulates Morphic Therapeutic for accomplishing $51.5 Million Series A financing to develop Next-Generation integrin therapies. Morphic Therapeutic, a biotechnology company developing a new generation of oral integrin drugs, announced today that it has completed a $51.5 million Series A financing to advance multiple programs into the clinic. The round was co-led by SR One and Pfizer Venture Investments, joined by Omega Funds and AbbVie Ventures. They join founding investors Polaris Partners, T.A. Springer and Schrödinger, Inc., along with ShangPharma Investment Group. Morphic Therapeutic was founded to translate advances from the laboratory of Timothy A. Springer, Ph.D., the Latham Family Professor at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital, into new therapies for immunological, fibrotic, neoplastic and vascular diseases. Springer’s initial discovery of integrins in the 1980s fueled the first generation of integrin targeted R&D. Six injectable integrin therapies are approved for treatment of multiple sclerosis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, plaque psoriasis, acute coronary syndrome and complications during percutaneous coronary intervention. However, many other attempts to develop oral integrin therapies have faced multiple challenges. Morphic is leveraging recent discoveries from Springer’s lab that may overcome these challenges to enable the development of small molecule integrin inhibitors. “This is a tremendously exciting time in drug development, when scientific understanding has advanced significantly, creating a clear path forward for effective targeting of the integrin family using rationally designed small molecules,” said Praveen Tipirneni, President & Chief Executive Officer of Morphic Therapeutic, who succeeds Kevin Bitterman, founding CEO and Polaris partner. Recent discoveries from the Springer lab have illuminated the reasons behind the failure of past attempts to create oral drug candidates directed at integrin targets by showing how compounds designed to...
ChemPartner at the 18th Shanghai International Froum on Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Industry
The 18th International Forum on Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Industry (Bio-Forum) was successfully held in Shanghai International Convention Center on June 20th-22nd, 2016. Key themes of this conference revolves around the new technology and new development in the areas of novel drug development, clinical researches, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, as well as international technology transfer, transformation of sci-tech achievements and financial incentives. Meanwhile, some project promotion and exhibitions were carried out throughout this platform. Over the past 10 years, Bio-Forum has evolved into an influential international conference in the area of biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, which was always being supported by Ministry of Science & Technology of the P.R.C, State Food and Drug Administration, Science & Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality, Shanghai Food and Drug Administration. This conference consists of different parts, including keynote speech, parallel sessions, partnering and exhibition, which attracted about 600 experts, scholars, entrepreneurs and government officials from home and abroad. In the parallel session “Genetic Testing & Precision Medicine” on the afternoon of June 21st, Dr. Jason Xiang, Vice President at Shanghai ChemPartner, delivered an exciting speech on “ADC Site-Specific Conjugation Technology”. ChemPartner is amongst the largest and most experienced Chemistry Service Organizations in China, which excels at MedChem design, custom synthesis, library synthesis, as well as peptide, nucleoside and natural product chemistry. With a force of nearly 1000 Synthetic and Medicinal Chemists, ChemPartner has access to state-of-the-art instrumentation, modeling, property prediction and structure based design tools, including a comprehensive suite of commercial software for every stage of discovery, analytical (including chiral separation), compound and project management support. Except Zhangjiang site, ChemPartner also has sophisticated labs in Chengdu and San Francisco, and has experience in driving our clients’ projects independently for virtual companies, co-piloting with our clients’ in-house experts and providing extensive and effective chemistry services. The...
Launching Ceremony of Phase I Construction at ShangPharma and Qidong Biopharma Industrial Zone
On April 24th, 2016, Qidong in Jiangsu Province witnessed the Launching Ceremony of Phase I Construction at ShangPharma and Qidong Biopharma Industrial Zone. Mr. Michael Hui, the chairman and CEO of ShangPharma Group made a speech, introducing the plan of this construction project. The biopharma industrial zone is a critical part of the global strategy of “ShangPharma Pharmaceutical Ecosystem”. The Phase I Construction will be completed within two years, with the total investment of about 500 million RMB. It’s expected to be fully operational by 2018, including three research facilities: biopharmaceutical antibody manufacturing plant, animal experiment center for preclinical novel drug R&D, Innovation and entrepreneurship incubator center. Biologics manufacturing facility As the first one meeting the top-notch international standard in Qidong, biologics manufacturing facility will cover 12,000 m2, and become the solid foundation, on which Qidong biopharmaceutical industry boosts. In the future, it does not only have the capability in antibody drug process development and manufacturing, but also works as first-rate carrier of Jiangsu Province for national antibody drug CMO pilot. Animal experiment center for preclinical novel drug R&D With the panned area of 11,000 m2, animal experiment center for preclinical novel drug R&D will conform to the top-notch international standard of animal experiments. In the future, it will undertake government programs of national science and technology department, and lay the foundation to synchronize relevant research, and application field to international peers. Innovation and entrepreneurship incubator center Innovation and entrepreneurship incubator center is planned to cover 10,000 m2, and is going to be the first stop of ShangPharma global precision incubation. Relying on the globalization of technology, talent, platform and channel, ShangPharma will create a high-end biopharmaceutical innovation and entrepreneurship platform in Qidong. By making full use of a novel innovation model, and integrating global resources in relevant fields, ShangPharma...
ChemPartner at CPSA Shanghai 2016
The sixth Clinical & Pharmaceutical Solutions through Analysis (CPSA) was successfully held in Renaissance Shanghai Pudong Hotel on April 20th- 22th, 2016. More than 200 people were attracted, who are from multinational pharmaceutical companies, domestic CRO, biomedical research institutes and executives, experts and scholars from universities. The theme of this conference is “Innovative approaches to reduce attrition and predict clinical outcomes.” CPSA is an international conference in the field of chemical and pharmaceutical structural analysis, which has been held in the United States for seventeen years by 2015. CPSA Shanghai is mainly geared towards professionals who are interested in the development trend of emerging market. In terms of thematic and roundtable discussions, scientists shared ideas about new technologies and applications regarding current biochemical assays, such as the progress of metabolomics platform, assay for the detection of small molecule and mass spectrometry analysis on tumor diagnosis related issues. In order to repay sponsor, the conference organizers set up a beautiful poster wall, not only to display the scientific research achievements, but also to give a pleasant cruise to participants. ChemPartner is famous for drug screening in the early phases of drug discovery and developed nearly 100 in vivo techniques in broad animal species for many clients to understand PK/PD correlation. For this time, DMPK team introduced in vivo toxicokinetic study in SD rats and in vitro metabolic stability study in liver microsomes, which revealed the inherent advantages and comprehensive strength on biological analysis (GLP and Non-GLP), in vitro ADME, in vivo DMPK and Toxicology research.
San Diego, April 5-9, 2014, ChemPartner attended AACR.
The American Association for Cancer Research 2016 Annual Meeting，as one of the most important International tumor conference, was held in New Orleans on Apr 16th -20th .The topic was “Delivering Cures Through Cancer Science”. It is reported that more than 6000 articles have been received, which contained the most advanced results of all cancer research areas. There were nearly 20,000 people joined the conference. The global famous researchers and scientists have presented several key developments focused on how to improve patients therapy covering protein transformation, DNA target repair, precision medicine and clinical trials. Among these, gene editing, CRISPR technology, epigenetic, stem cell and immunotherapy were the research hotspots. In addition, the Vice President of United States, Joe Biden also addressed the subject of “Moon Shoot” at the closing ceremony scene. Throughout the conference, basic research, clinical transformation and early diagnosis were still the core theme. ChemPartner, as one of the exhibitors at Booth 240 overflowing with attendees, showed the outstanding research achievements in ADC, oncology, antibody discovery, and cell biology. The Business Development team based in US East Coast and West Coast, and the expertise teams of these four areas based in Shanghai attended this meeting. As the leading enterprises in CRO industry, ChemPartner has competitive advantages in the field of tumor immunology, molecular biology etc. We will continue to make a contribution toward related biomedical research for cancer prevention and treatment.
ChemPartner at the 3rd PEGS CHINA
The third Protein & Antibody Engineering and Development Summit (PEGS CHINA) sponsored by CHI (Cambridge Healthtech Institute) was held in Shanghai Pudong Grand Hyatt Hotel on Apr 5th, 2016. More than 200 participants from China, the United States, Europe and other Asian countries have attended the meeting which lasted for 3 days. The meeting aims to provide a platform for overseas scientists and Chinese researchers to discuss biomedical technology face to face. Gathering more than 60 industry elites all over the world in this summit, there are four conferences and one seminar have been discussed warmly. The lecturers made a brilliant presentation related to “Protein & Antibody Engineering”, “Analytical Characterization of Biotherapeutics”, “Next Generation Cancer Biotherapeutics”, “Protein Aggregation & Stability” and “Clinical and Regulatory Strategies for Domestic and Global IND and BLA Filings”. The experts also proposed the viewpoint regarding development trend and future outlook of bio-pharmaceutical industry in China respectively. Chempartner, as one of the exhibitors at booth #1 overflowing with attendees, introduced the research achievement of “XDCE01 antibody-drug conjugates as the potential therapy for solid tumor”, which showed the capability of leading position in biotechnology research and development area. China's local enterprises focused on drug development of biological treatment has increasingly resurgenced, biological investors will pay more attention to industry strategic alliance with domestic enterprises in the near future. The prospects of China Biopharmaceutical industry will be brighter.
Blend Therapeutics Secures $38 Million in Series C Financing and Changes Name to Tarveda Therapeutics
On January 27, 2016, Tarveda Therapeutics, INC. has secured $38 million in Series C Financing co-led by new investor Novo A/S and existing investor NEA (New Enterprise Associates). Meanwhile, Tarveda also announced to change the former brand “Blend Therapeutic” to clearly highlight the company’s differentiated approach to treating cancer. Headquartered in Watertown, MA, Tarveda Therapeutics is a biotech with ties to MIT serial entrepreneur Robert Langer. The company focuses on an early-stage therapy that marries the proven benefits of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), designed to shuttle tumor-killing drugs to their desired targets, with nanoparticle technology that improves delivery. Proceeds from the Series C financing will be used to advance a pipeline of Pentarins that Tarveda is developing for a range of solid tumor targets. In particular, the funding will support the advancement of Tarveda’s lead drug candidate, PEN-221, into Phase 1 clinical studies in mid-2016. PEN-221 is designed to target the somatostatin receptor for treatment of patients with neuroendocrine cancers including small cell lung cancer. With the availability of diagnostic tools to identify patients with over-expression of the somatostatin receptor in their tumors, Tarveda is employing a targeted strategy for clinical development by enrolling patients in the Phase 1 study who have been identified as most likely to benefit from treatment with PEN-221. About Tarveda Therapeutics Tarveda Therapeutics, Inc., is a biopharmaceutical company discovering and developing Pentarins™ as a new class of targeted anti-cancer medicines to advance the treatment of patients with solid tumor cancers. Tarveda’s lead Pentarin drug candidate, PEN-221, is a miniaturized biologic drug conjugate that targets the somatostatin receptor for treatment of patients with neuroendocrine cancers including small cell lung cancer. Tarveda’s strategy includes developing its own proprietary Pentarins as well as applying the Pentarin platform to enhance the effectiveness of the targeting moieties and payloads of pharmaceutical...
ChemPartner Announces its Expansion into Peptide Chemistry
ShangPharma inks an Important Collaboration with Investment in Circle Pharma SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ChemPartner is delighted to announce the expansion of its extensive CRO service offerings into peptide chemistry. This comes along with a significant investment in personnel and infrastructure, including the purchase of parallel peptide synthesis equipment and the hiring of a highly qualified peptide leader based at its new South San Francisco laboratory facility. Through this new initiative ChemPartner is able to be a true partner in therapeutic peptide drug discovery and in partnership with its other functional areas including biology, pharmacology and DMPK, ChemPartner will be able to offer a fully integrated solution in this space. The company's commitment to this scientific area as well as its continued focus on innovation and technology partnerships has also been excitingly cemented by a collaboration recently agreed between Circle Pharma and ShangPharma, ChemPartner's parent company. Circle Pharma has a state of the art technology for the design and synthesis of cell permeable macrocyclic peptides which has the potential to lead to many new and innovative therapeutics, especially in the area of intracellular protein-protein interactions (PPIs). ShangPharma has made an investment in Circle and is also hosting its expansion by sharing its South San Francisco site with this innovative company. The peptide chemists at both Circle and ChemPartner will work together to develop techniques in macrocycle synthesis and ChemPartner will also provide support from its research powerhouse in Shanghai. Michael Hui, CEO of ShangPharma said "The deal with Circle is an example of our continuing efforts to help new companies with exciting technologies in the life science space be successful. We are really excited about their plans and hope to be able to work with them in multiple different ways in the coming months as they mature...