SciClone to focus on Chinese market

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., Sept. 25 - SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s new president and chief executive officer, Friedhelm Blobel, said the company plans to leverage its opportunity in China with the acquisition of DC Bead.

China is one of the world's fastest growing pharmaceutical markets due in part to its growing middle class with access to deregulated health care and fast-growing aging population. By 2010, according to Blobel, there will be 170 million people in China over age 60, or five times as many as in the United States.

Blobel made the comments in an update on the company's global strategic vision at the UBS Global Life Sciences Conference in New York.

SciClone will expand the sale of Zadaxin in China by adding regulatory and clinical capabilities. The Chinese sales force for the product has already been expanded to 120.

Blobel noted that DC Bead will be used to fight a deadly form of liver cancer known as HDC in China that kills an estimated 300,000 of the 350,000 people diagnosed. The company expects to file for Chinese regulatory approvals by year-end.

SciClone's CEO also commented on plans to release phase 2 melanoma data in the fourth quarter, to in-license/acquire an additional product for the Chinese market in 2007 and to start a phase 3 melanoma clinical trial for Zadaxin, also in 2007.

The company will also continue development of its small molecule SCD07, acquired from a Russian company, to fight infectious diseases including tuberculosis.

Financial guidance for 2006 includes sales of $32 million, research and development expenses of $14.6 million and $38 million cash on hand at the end of the year. Blobel said he expects to break even, in terms of profit and loss, including the $8 million settlement reported in the second quarter.

Blobel expressed the desire to focus on building SciClone's business in China, where the pharmaceutical market is expected to reach $90 billion by 2016, outpacing both the United States and Japan.

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