ChinaBio Today submits:
Last week, an acronym surfaced in China life science that hasn’t been heard much lately: IPO. Granted, it was only a rumor, and it was for a drug distribution company, not a drug manufacturer or, an even more unlikely event, for a drug discovery enterprise. But still, it was a sign – perhaps only an early sign – that the investment community’s disinterest in China life science may be coming to an end.
The IPO rumors concerned Sinopharm Medicine Holding Co., a major China pharmaceutical distributor (see story). According to the story, the IPO would take place on the Hong Kong stock exchange as early as October 2009. The goal would be to raise more than Hong Kong $2 billion ($155 million US). Sinopharm Medicine was founded in early 2003 by China National Pharmaceutical Group Corp. (Sinopharm) and Fosun Capital, with a total registered capital of 1 billion RMB.