2007-05-22 07:07:40 -

SHANGHAI, China, May 22 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Earlier this month, Dr. Xiaochuan Wang, Chairman and CEO of Sundia MediTech (Shanghai) Company Ltd., joined Dr. Xiongwei Shi, CEO of United PharmaTech Ltd. and Dr. Xuehai Tan, CEO and President of HD BioSiences, in announcing the formation of a new Contract Research Organization (CRO) Service Alliance (CROSA) in Shanghai's Zhangjiang HiTech Park. This CROSA, formed by three leading CRO companies is a first for China, and will take the advantages of specialized expertise from the three CRO companies to provide efficient and high

quality CRO services in all related fields for drug discovery and development of clients worldwide.

Over the past five years, the pharmaceutical CRO industry has taken off in China, and global pharmaceutical companies are turning to China to find capable CRO providers for R&D work at all stages of development. Until now, however, there has been no single CRO organization in China that could meet this increasing demand.

In response, Sundia MediTech, United PharmaTech, and HD BioSiciences have reached an agreement to immediately form a close CROSA dedicated to providing this complete CRO service to pharmaceutical and bio-pharmaceutical companies worldwide. This CROSA will act as a single entity in the CRO market, and will explore ways to cooperate even closer in the future. "Allying with United PharmaTech and HD BioSciences is the best way to quickly and successfully expand our business into the complete range of CRO services to fit the increased demands from our clients world wide while maintaining high quality and efficiency and minimizing cost," said Sundia CEO Dr. Wang, "It will change the landscape of China's pharmaceutical CRO industry."

With the CROSA, Sundia MediTech, United Pharma and HD Biosciences will be on the cutting edge of synthesizing new pharmaceuticals, lead optimization, molecular bio-assay development and tests, in vitro and in vivo PK/ADME research, and cGMP required intermediates and API for clinical trails, HD Biosciences CEO Dr. Tan said.

"The current CRO industry in China is unique. Pharmaceutical companies in developed countries desperately need new drugs, but cannot afford the prohibitive cost of research in their home countries," United PharmaTech's CEO Dr. Shi said. "Their best option is to outsource R&D work." Outsourcing's move into highly skilled occupations provides a rare opportunity for new bio-pharmaceutical companies in China, which he said they will be excited to capitalize upon. The presence of so many CRO companies in Zhangjiang not to mention the presence of multinationals like Roche and Novartis, has helped Zhangjiang to grow into China's most important base for bio-pharmaceutical CRO companies.

Sundia MediTech, United PharmaTech and HD Bio-Sciences were all founded between 2002-04 in Shanghai by veterans of U.S. pharmaceutical companies to provide drug discovery and development CRO services in different stages and fields. Seeing the rapidly developing global CRO industry, the founders left their positions in the U.S. and came to China to start companies in their own fields. Over the past 3-5 years, all three companies have thrived and built strong reputations in their respective specialties.

For more information, please contact: Albert Sun Tel: +86-21-51098642 (China) Email: info@sundia.com

Source: Sundia MediTech