ScinoPharm Taiwan and Coland Holdings Establish Strategic Alliance for Oncological Injectable Products for China

TAINAN, Taiwan, May 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ScinoPharm Taiwan Ltd. (TSE: 1789.TW) and Coland Holdings Ltd. (TSE: 4144.TW) announced today that they have formed a strategic alliance to develop a series of generic oncological drugs for Mainland China. Several Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) have been initially selected for development and future sales as injectable formulation products from the list of ScinoPharm-developed APIs. This will allow the companies to compete within the anti-cancer drug market in China and tap into this large and growing business potential.

This cooperation utilizes ScinoPharm's process R&D and production advantages in the field of highly-potent oncological APIs and Coland's well-established marketing capabilities in China to build an active presence within China's rapidly growing anti-cancer drug market. Under the strategic alliance agreement, ScinoPharm will provide the APIs, a third party company will be commissioned to develop, formulate and register oncological pharmaceutical products, and then Coland and ScinoPharm will be co-responsible for the marketing and sales efforts in the Chinese market. The currently selected and targeted anti-cancer products are mostly mainstream pharmaceuticals with large demand and high competitive barriers in the Chinese market, including treatments for lung, breast, and ovarian cancers, as well as MDS and pancreatic cancer. These products are estimated to reach the market in 2017 at the earliest. The market value within China for these products came to over 5 billion RMB (US$805 million) last year, demonstrating the immense future market potential resulting from this alliance.

Dr. Jo Shen, President and CEO of ScinoPharm, stated, "ScinoPharm is elated to form a strategic alliance with Coland. Resources from both parties will be combined to establish a robust collaboration for assertive development of products for the local anti-cancer medication market in China. This cooperation also marks ScinoPharm's first move into Chinese market since launching our "Double A" strategy, combining unique APIs with Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs).  High technical entry barrier APIs will be continually developed into formulations (ANDAs), providing the Chinese pharmaceutical market with a total solution for domestic demand. This strategy will extend our marketing networks to cover end users resulting in securing and expanding ScinoPharm's existing business while also enhancing the company's long-term competitive advantage and new opportunities for growth."

The CEO of Coland Holding Leo Lee stated: "Coland Holding is pleased to have the opportunity to work with world-leading API manufacturer, ScinoPharm, to develop oncology products for China Market. Following the rise in aging population, along with environmental impact and changes in people life style, the overall market demand for anti-cancer drug has been continuously increasing. Given that market entry for API production, formulation development and its subsequent sales process requiring higher level of technical standards, Coland is able to leverage its business expertise in managing medical platform in China, combined with ScinoPharm API technical capabilities, coupled with China's CFDA intention to accelerate Anti-Cancer drug development that will speed up the registration process. This strategic alliance will be balancing complementary advantages from both partners, and expect to achieve large scale of synergies in developing China's market.

The earlier study indicated the market size of China's Oncology market was estimated 61.5 Billion RMB in 2011 -- a 25% growth from preceding year. The reliance on cancer treatment drugs among all hospital medication had climbed to 2nd (2010) from 4th place (2002), next to the anti-infection drugs. Through the formation of strategic alliance, ScinoPharm and Coland aspire to act in response to the strong desirability of high quality oncology drugs in China, executing through strategic collaboration, and ensuring collective competitiveness are achieved in the niche anti-cancer drug market.

About ScinoPharm 

ScinoPharm Taiwan, Ltd. is a leading process R&D and API manufacturing service provider to the global pharmaceutical industry. With research and manufacturing facilities in both Taiwan and Mainland China, ScinoPharm offers a wide portfolio of services ranging from custom synthesis for early phase pharmaceutical activities to brand companies as well as APIs for the generic industry. The Company also provides a vertically integrated, one-stop-shopping service for its API customers by expanding into the field of oncological injectable formulations. For more information, please visit the Company's website at http://www.scinopharm.com.

About Coland

Coland is the only Taiwan-listed, China-focused company specializing in the commercialization of healthcare products. Coland focuses its expertise on the development of a strong product pipeline through collaboration with leading institutes in the dedicated therapeutic areas of Hepatitis, Respiratory, Oncology, Cardiovascular, Medical Devices and IVD Reagents. Coland launched its first branded product to treat HBV in 2005, a first-to-market Adefovir generic, achieving a top-3 market position in China. Coland has actively expanded into new therapeutic areas in recent years including medical devices, respiratory products, cardiovascular area, and medical products from global multi-national corporations (MNCs). Since its founding 10 years ago, Coland's unique business model aims to meet the needs of doctors and patients with safe and high-quality, high-efficacy healthcare products. For further inquiries, please visit Coland website at www.colandpharma.com.

SOURCE ScinoPharm Taiwan, Ltd.