AsianScientist (Oct. 4, 2011) – Newsummit Pharmaceutical Group, a China-based biomedical development company that is backed by Sequoia Capital and other venture capital firms, has partnered with U.S.-based Cleveland Bio Fund on a new investment fund for Greater Cleveland.
The US$100 million fund will be invested in small- to mid-size medical device companies in the United States that are looking to enter the Chinese market, said Eddy Zai, chief executive officer of the Cleveland Bio Fund.
“These medical device companies will now have an international platform for their products with access to one of the largest markets in the world – often limited to large multi-national corporations,” Zai said.
“This cross-border partnership is one of the first of its kind in the U.S. and will provide a unique service to device manufacturers. We see this as the next horizon within our healthcare industry and China,” he said.
CbF and Newsummit met with a number of potential companies starting last week at Cleveland’s Health Tech Corridor and institutions. Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson also welcomed the investment in Cleveland from China.
Jun Ren, CEO of Newsummit said, “We see this as a big, first step toward forming a long-term relationship that will yield good results for our investment by linking cutting edge U.S. companies with immense opportunities and capital in China, and by establishing an American presence for companies from China.”
Calling the fund a “unique boutique style investment strategy,” Zai said that the focus of the CbF-Newsummit partnership will be in companies that have products that can be sold in Asian healthcare markets but that do not currently have an Asian strategy.
Additionally, the partnership will assist Chinese companies that want to access the American market, by helping them establish U.S. operations and initiate U.S. market development from the Cleveland region.
Cleveland-based BioEnterprise, a leading accelerator of biomedical companies, will serve as a healthcare advisor and alliance partner to CbF.
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Source: Cleveland Bio Fund.
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