Amerigen Pharmaceuticals and VIWA Pharmaceutical Company Today Jointly Announce the Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Setting Out Their Intention to Establish a Joint Venture to Develop and Register a Range of Branded Generic Medicines for Sale in China

EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. and HANGZHOU, China, Jan. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Amerigen Pharmaceuticals Limited and VIWA Pharmaceutical Company Limited today jointly announce the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) setting out their intention to establish a joint venture to develop and register a range of branded generic medicines for sale in China. It is anticipated that the products, once approved, would be manufactured at Amerigen's SFDA and US FDA approved finished dose plant in Suzhou, China, with marketing and sales undertaken either by a Chinese affiliate of VIWA or a third party. Jonathan Embleton, Amerigen's Chief Business Officer commented, "We look forward to working with VIWA to bring some first time and technically sophisticated generic products to Chinese patients at more affordable prices, without compromising on quality."

Jack H. Ye, VIWA's managing director, added, "Combining Amerigen's development capabilities, manufacturing assets and access to products from Western markets with VIWA's access to API's and regulatory expertise in China should enable the joint venture to rapidly build up its product portfolio. This in turn will help accelerate VIWA's strategic thrust into the commercialization of finished pharmaceutical products in China."

John Lowry, Amerigen's President & CEO added, "The formation of this joint venture marks a first step by Amerigen to bring high quality and locally manufactured branded generic products to the Chinese market and, in the process, establish an Amerigen brand in China. We anticipate that additional collaborations will be established to further this strategy."

About Amerigen
Amerigen Pharmaceuticals is a group of companies engaged in all phases of the generic pharmaceutical business, with operations in the US and China. The group is controlled by Amerigen Pharmaceuticals Limited. The US regulatory and commercial activities within the group are conducted by Amerigen Pharmaceuticals Inc., based in East Brunswick, NJ, USA. The group's Chinese subsidiary, Suzhou Amerigen Pharmaceuticals Limited, is located in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. The group has an active portfolio of products under development, filed, or intended for filing, as ANDA's with the US FDA and the Chinese SFDA. Amerigen's focus is orally delivered products that are challenging to develop, require specialized technologies or high containment to manufacture, and present complex regulatory and intellectual property obstacles to bring to market. All Amerigen's products are developed and manufactured by the company or its partners around the world to meet the highest quality standards, including the US FDA.

About VIWA
VIWA Pharmaceutical Company Limited is a member of the VIWA group of companies and is focused on the development, registration and commercialization of finished pharmaceutical products within China and for export to other markets. The VIWA group of companies also includes the Hangzhou VIWA Company Limited, a leading provider of active pharmaceutical ingredients, fine chemicals and intermediates to the global pharmaceutical, agrochemical and animal health industries.

SOURCE Amerigen Pharmaceuticals