MicuRx Pharmaceuticals, a Union City, Calif., developer of new anti-infective drugs, raised $10 million in a first round of funding. Morningside Group, a Hong Kong-based investment fund founded by the Chan family, provided the funding.
Founded by two former officials at Vicuron Pharmaceuticals, another maker of antimicrobial therapies that was acquired by Pfizer in 2005, MicuRx seems to be a new sort of U.S.-Chinese hybrid -- one that may not even end up doing much of its fundraising or even scientific or clinical work in the U.S. From the company's Web site:
MicuRx business strategy seeks to capitalize on the global opportunities emerging through the combination of biotech pharma innovation in the USA and the enterprise-friendly infrastructure and scientific resources of China. This approach affords MicuRx with utmost efficiency in the drug discovery and development process. Importantly, the strategy also sets the stage for an expedited access of MicuRx products to the global pharmaceuticals markets.
Or, if you prefer the Chinese version:
关于 MicuRx : MicuRx 是由美国资深药物开发企业家创投，受到实力雄厚风险投资基金 Morningside 支持的，以研发一类小分子新药为主的新型药物公司。 MicuRx 创始人也是 Vicuron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 的创始人之一。（ Vicuron 于 2005 年被辉瑞以 20 亿美元收购。） MicuRx 在美国旧金山湾区和上海张江科学园区都有研发基地。
It's also interesting that the company's co-founders -- Zhengyu Yuan and Mike Gordeev -- have Chinese and Russian backgrounds, respectively, as well as significant experience in U.S. biotechs.
In any case, it's difficult to tell at this point how groundbreaking the MicuRx strategy will be, as the company seems to be starting off with attempts to in-license failed or abandoned drug candidates from larger pharmaceutical company. That strategy still has plenty of fans in the industry, as I've written several times, but it's not exactly bleeding-edge work of any sort.