Forma Therapeutics announced a $25 million venture round that will further the company’s goal of developing new drugs for cancer. The company focuses on new targets based on the genetic findings of the Cancer Genome Atlas Project. Forma, which is headquartered in Cambridge, MA, has established a laboratory in Beijing, run by Yigong Shi, PhD, a molecular biologist who is Chair of the School of Medicine at Tsinghua University. More details...

BMP Sunstone Corporation (美国美华太阳石集团公司) reported that its subsidiary, Sunstone (Tangshan) Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. of Hebei, was given high tech status. High tech status brings with it a preferential tax rate of 15%, a significant reduction from the 25% rate the company would otherwise pay. Because of its new rate, BMP Sunstone will recognize a tax refund of between $1 million and $1.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2008. This refund raises the company’s guidance for its 2008 full-year non-GAAP net income to between $6 million and $7 million. More details...

Stock Symbol: (NSDQ: BJGP)

Looking forward, China is expected to release its official medical reform plan soon; looking backward, the ChinaBio® Stock Index fell 57% in 2008; Shinva Medical Instrument and GE Healthcare will form a medical device JV; China Medical Technologies (中国医疗技术公司) has completed the sale of its HIFU tumor therapy system business to its CEO; Niusule Biotech Corp. listed its shares on the OTC Bulletin Board; Sinovac Biotech (北京科兴生物制品有限公司) said its hepatitis A vaccine has been cleared of any responsibility in the death of an infant; and China Sky One Medical (中国天字一号医药公司) was awarded a Science and Technology Prize for its Naftopidil Dispersible Tablet.  More details...

Stock Symbols: (SHA: 600587) (NYSE: GE) (NSDQ: CMED) (OTCBB: NIUS) (NYSE Alternext US: SVA) (NSDQ: CSKI)

You knew it was bad. And you were right. In calendar year 2008, the ChinaBio® Stock Index fell 57%, dropping from 1674 at the end of 2007 to 719 one year later, a 915 point decline. The index is made up of 15 China-based biopharmas that trade in the US. It was not a pleasant journey. At the beginning of 2008, China stocks were the darlings of the world. At year’s end, the same companies were considered risky in the context of a very negative overall market in which risk is to be avoided. More details...

Niusule Biotech Corp. listed its shares on the OTC Bulletin Board. The company is headquartered in Nevada, though its operations are carried out in China through a subsidiary, Zhejiang Baitai Bioengineering Corp. The company will produce biopharmaceuticals and health food. At present, Niusule has no revenues, though it hopes to become operational in early 2010. More details...

Stock Symbol: (OTCBB: NIUS)

China Medical Technologies (中国医疗技术公司) announced that it completed the sale of its High Intensity Focused Ultrasound tumor therapy system business to its Chairman and CEO. Usually, this type of report is a fairly unremarkable event that requires little or no commentary. On this occasion, however, China Medical included a lengthy defense of the sale, explaining all the reasons why the sale makes good business sense. More details...

Stock Symbol: (NSDQ: CMED)

Sinovac Biotech (北京科兴生物制品有限公司) reported that Healive®, the company’s hepatitis A vaccine, has been cleared of any responsibility in the death of a two-year-old infant, who had been given the vaccine just two days before his death. According to discoveries made during an autopsy, the cause of death was myocarditis, an inflammation of the muscular part of the heart, which is usually caused by infection. Healive was not a factor in this problem. More details...

Stock Symbol: (NYSE Alternext US: SVA)

In January, China is expected to issue its official medical reform plan, under which the country will provide universal medical service by 2020 to its 1.3 billion people, including the currently underserved rural population. The plan states as a central provision that it is the government’s responsibility to play the dominate role in providing public health and basic medical service. That principal reverses a trend toward privatizing healthcare in China and putting the responsibility on the individual. Both the central and local governments will increase their levels of financial support. The final version of the plan is expected to be very similar to the draft, which was made available on October 14 on the website of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).  More details...

Shinva Medical Instrument and GE Healthcare will form a medical device JV, called Xinhua GE Medical Systems, with a total investment of $25 million. The new company will focus on diagnostic X-ray equipment and be involved in R&D, manufacturing and sales. It will also develop additional equipment and software. Under the agreement, Shinva will hold a 51% stake of the new company, and GE will hold the remaining 49%. More details...

Stock Symbols: (SHA: 600587) (NYSE: GE)

China Sky One Medical (中国天字一号医药公司) received a Science and Technology Prize awarded by Shandong Province for its Naftopidil Dispersible Tablet. Naftopidil Dispersible Tablets treat enlarged prostate in men in a product that can easily be absorbed and digested. The product was developed by China Sky One’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Peng Lai Jin Chuang Pharmaceutical Company. More details...

Stock Symbol: (NSDQ: CSKI)