MediBeacon joins with Huadong Medicine for China access
As MediBeacon Inc is poised to begin its pivotal trial of a system to measure kidney function at the point of care without needing blood or urine samples, it has entered into a definitive agreement with Huadong Medicine, a publicly traded company on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange
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MediBeacon Inc., whose largest shareholder is Pansend Life Sciences, LLC, a subsidiary of HC2 Holdings, Inc announced on Thursday that they have entered into a definitive agreement with Huadong Medicine, a publicly traded company on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
The agreement will provide exclusive rights to MediBeacon’s portfolio of assets in Greater China, according to a company release on Thursday. Huadong Medicine will be responsible to fund the clinical trials, commercial and regulatory activities in 25 Asian countries including Greater China, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines and Singapore.
MediBeacon’s Transdermal Glomerular Filtration Rate Measurement System (TGFR) is poised to begin its pivotal trial in the US and Europe. The TGFR is designed to measure kidney function at the point of care without the need for blood sampling or urine collection. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted “breakthrough device” designation to the TGFR in 2018. MediBeacon’s agents and devices are not approved for human use by any regulatory agency.
It is estimated that 10.8 per cent of the people in China suffer from chronic kidney disease, which remains a "hidden epidemic" affecting more than 850 million people worldwide. The ability to measure GFR (the transdermal glomerular filtration rate) is of high clinical interest, especially for patients with, or at risk of, kidney disease.
Under the deal’s terms, MediBeacon will receive an initial $15 million equity payment at a pre-money valuation of $300 million and a second $15 million equity payment upon achieving US FDA approval for the TGFR at a pre-money valuation of $400 million.
Huadong Medicine will fund all commercial and regulatory activities in Greater China and select Asian countries. In addition, MediBeacon will receive royalty payments on net sales in the specified countries.
“We are extremely excited to partner with Huadong Medicine in Greater China,” said Steve Hanley, CEO and co-founder of MediBeacon. “Huadong has over 6,500 representatives covering all key areas of China including a strong presence in the nephrology community. As a leading pharmaceutical company in China, we believe they are the perfect partner to drive market adoption for our pipeline of products.”
As part of this transaction, Richard B Dorshow, PhD, the chief scientific officer and co-founder of MediBeacon Inc, will assume the role of special scientific advisor to Huadong Medicine.
MediBeacon’s fluorescent agent platform for use in physiological function monitoring has important applications beyond the field of kidney health, said the release. The company’s transdermal gastrointestinal permeability system has been supported by multiple grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In addition, the company has just completed initial pre-clinical studies evaluating use of its agents in imaging the vasculature of the eye.
