Drugmaker Center Laboratories Inc (晟德大藥廠) yesterday said its affiliate BioGend Therapeutics Co Ltd (博晟生醫) has inked a strategic partnership with Exactech Taiwan (台灣美精技公司), a Taiwanese subsidiary of a US orthopedic company, to tap into the market for aging-related bone conditions.
BioGend Theraputics has acquired a controlling stake of more than 50 percent in the local subsidiary of Florida-based Exactech Inc, a NASDAQ-listed orthopedic company valued at US$407.18 million.
The partnership would allow BioBend Therapeutics to expand its business into the market for joint and cartilage-related conditions by leveraging Exactech’s development of biphasic cartilage-repair implants (BiCRI).
The BiCRI implants are produced by using cartilage tissue samples from patients and cultivating them using the company’s proprietary process.
Once placed in a patient, the BiCRI implant helps the patient regrow and repair damaged cartilage tissue without the need for a follow-up operation to install cells grown outside the body.
Exactech Taiwan said that BiCRI has begun a phase III clinical trial in Taiwan with 11 major local hospitals, and the study is expected to be completed this year and acquire regulatory approval for commercialization in 2019.
The BiCRI implant was originally developed by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and National Taiwan University Hospital. It was later handed over to Exactech Taiwan via a technology transfer deal.
As the worldwide population continues to age, the market for cartilage damage-related conditions is estimated to reach NT$60 billion (US$1.99 billion) in the US alone, BioGend Theraputics said, adding that the figure includes demand from sports and accidental injuries.
The new cartilage business would help BioGend Theraputic expand beyond its expertise supplying orthopedic implants made with biological materials for vertebrae-related conditions and trauma care, the company said.
Meanwhile, Center Laboratories Inc last quarter reported a net loss of NT$20.97 million, representing a 64.5 percent improvement from a year ago.
Revenues last quarter rose 16.8 percent annually to NT$3.81 billion. Losses per share were NT$0.07.
The company attributed the quarterly net loss to rising research and development costs for new drugs and products.
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