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New Joint Venture Focused on Multi-Million Dollar Short-Term Revenue Opportunities
CALGARY, Feb. 2, 2012 /CNW/ - SemBioSys Genetics Inc. (TSX:SBS), today announced that its product and platform development collaboration agreement (the "Agreement") with Tasly Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd ("Tasly") of Tianjin, China, and its wholly owned subsidiary Tasly US have received all necessary Chinese (People's Republic of China and local Chinese Government) approvals and the business license for the newly formed Company based in Tianjin, China, Tasly-SemBioSys Bio-Pharmaceutical, Technology Co., Ltd., to commercialize near, medium and long-term healthy living, nutritional, and pharmaceutical products utilizing Tasly and SemBioSys' plant-based technology and expertise.
"Today's announcement is part of a larger strategic plan for SemBioSys and Tasly to collaborate on a number of fronts," said James Szarko, President and CEO of SemBioSys. "With this long approval process now completed we will rapidly develop and commercialize a number of exciting new products into Tasly's well established distribution channels," he concluded.
The new Company is structured as a Sino-Foreign Equity Joint Venture (the "Joint Venture"), and will develop and commercialize products for China and the world. Development work on the first products and product programs is already under way. Select products and programs that are under evaluation or under development with a range of timelines are listed below:
Near Term
Research and develop a new generation of Modern traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) products utilizing oilbodies to develop and further enhance TCM products. The total international TCM market is estimated to be US$20 billion and Tasly's revenues are approximately US$1 billion growing at in excess of 20% per annum.
Develop a line of functional food and beverages based on oilbodies that result from SemBioSys' patented oil seed processing platform. The oil and proteins are produced in a continuous cold system that does not denature the oil and proteins, resulting in higher quality products with greater market value than those currently produced using standard heat and hexane extraction methods. The global functional food and beverage market is estimated to exceed US$130 billion by 2015. Tasly recently entered this exciting new market and believes its current distribution provides huge upside growth potential in China based on the results of its initial products.
Mid Term
Continue development of SemBioSys' protein feed additive for the global aquaculture markets. China's market accounts for approximately 70% of the global aquaculture market, which is estimated to be US$86 billion annually.
Research and develop modified oils for nutritional health.
Long Term
Continue development of plant produced insulin for China and the rest of world. Initial program would explore growing requirements and optimizing seed yield for Chinese agriculture.
Research projects related to the discovery and development of plant-made pharmaceuticals and TCMs.
About Tasly and the Partnership
Tasly is one of China's largest pharmaceutical companies and is China's 2nd producer of TCMs, which are derived from plants. Its lead drug, Tasly Cardiotonic Pill, is the #1 selling TCM in China for the past seven years. In 2011, Tasly recorded revenues of 6.5 billion RMB with a 10 year compounded growth rate in excess of 20%. Tasly also has operations in the United States, Africa, South East Asia, and the UK.
SemBioSys is a health and wellness company that utilizes its renewable, patented plant seed oilbody and plant-based protein expression technology platforms to develop and produce high-value proteins and oils to make nutritional products and drug candidates.
SemBioSys is entitled to 30% ownership and profit sharing of the Joint Ventures profits for contributing select intellectual property. Tasly will contribute 100 per cent of the cost of the Joint Venture's global research, development and product commercialization. Further, Tasly will facilitate preclinical, clinical, regulatory services, manufacturing and commercial expertise, and utilize its significant sales force to commercialize the Joint Venture's products in China. Its sales force covers approximately 25,000 Chinese hospitals, retail pharmacies and direct to consumer markets with a total of 1,500 representatives.
ABOUT TASLY PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD.
Tasly Pharmaceutical, based in Tianjin, China, was founded in May 1994. Through its development, Tasly has become a high-tech group whose scope of businesses include modern TCMs, chemical & biological drugs, healthcare products, and functional foods. The Company has a large research institute and oversees its own product development, planting, manufacturing, commercial sales, and distribution. Tasly manufactures and sells its traditional Chinese medicines, generic drugs, vaccines, and personal care products in China and in several other countries around the world. Tasly entered a drug-wholesaling Venture with the UK's Co-operative Group in 2007. For more information about the Company, please visit www.tasly.com.