Mapi Pharma, an Israel-based biopharmaceutical company closed an equity investment deal amounting to $10 million with Zhejiang Jingxin Pharmaceutical. The latter already holds an initial $10 million stakes in Mapi Pharma which was closed in 2016.
Under the equity investment, Mapi will exclusively develop a product exclusively for Zhejiang Jingxin. Mapi will also be tasked to support the product's registration, manufacturing, and marketing in the Chinese market. Mapi, on the other hand, remains the owner of the products' global IP and marketing rights.
Zhejiang Jingxin Pharmaceutical is a publicly listed company that provides products for neurological, behavioral, and digestive system indications.
Mapi Pharma, a privately held entity, specializes in the creation of high barrier-to-entry, high added-value lifecycle management pharmaceuticals, and complex active pharmaceutical ingredients and formulations.
Mapi will allocate the fund it received for big developments that include expanding the company's pipeline beyond what it currently offers at present. It will explore developments for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. The pharmaceutical company is currently undergoing a phase III clinical trial for a treatment for multiple sclerosis.
During the announcement, Mapi Chairman and CEO Ehud Marom said the new funding demonstrated Zhejiang Jingxin unwavering trust and continued the commitment to support Mapi Pharma's future plans.
More partnerships like this may happen in the future as Shanghai and Israel have signed a memorandum of understanding that involvement more partnerships in the field of science and technology. The MOU may also include establishing joint research labs. The parties have also discussed collaboration in the development of a China-Israel innovation park in the city. Other segments to be explored under the agreement are brain science, agricultural technology, energy, and environment.
The MOU, signed by Mayor Ying Yong and Israeli Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis, boosts Shanghai's plan of becoming internationally known as the hub for new academic, scientific discoveries, technological inventions, and industrial advances.
Israel is rapidly being known across the world as a "start-up" nation because of the country's innovation and China has a significant role to play for this popularity.
The number of Chinese investors on Israeli tech start-ups increased this year compared to 2017, Business Times previously reported.
Israeli high tech startups, including those focusing on developments of artificial intelligence, raised a total of $1 billion from 131 deals for the third quarter of 2018. Out of all these investment deals, Chinese investors accounted for 12 percent. In comparison, there was only about 7.5-9 percent of finances coming from China to Israel startups between 2015 and 2017.
