Cancer and infectious diseases startup Ascletis, which will operate dual locations in the United States and China, announced Wednesday it will open its U.S. headquarters in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
But even more significant than the region where Ascletis will operate is the site where it will grow. The company will establish its U.S. operations on the campus of The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences. The Hamner, a nonprofit research organization, has made a concerted effort to build research and business bridges between RTP and China.
China is an emerging market for pharmaceuticals, the third largest such market in the world, Ascletis co-founder and CEO Jinzi Wu said. By 2015, it is projected to be second only to the U.S. market in terms of size. But while the biotechnology industry is well established in the United States, it is just emerging in China. Wu said his company will tap the strengths of each market to bring benefits to both.
“Ascletis wants to bridge the gap so we can combine U.S. innovation with the capital efficiencies and talent in China,” said Wu, a former RTP-based executive for GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK).
Ascletis, just four months old, raised $100 million in series A venture round in April. The company aims to in-license cancer and infectious disease compounds from the United States and develop and commercialize them as drugs for the growing China market. The company will also do its own drug discovery work. Wu said Ascletis aims to partner these drugs with large pharmaceutical companies for global commercialization. Wu projects the company could grow to more than 100 employees in three years, with 15 to 20 percent of them working from RTP. Ascletis’ China operations will be at the National High Tech Industry Development Zone in Hangzhou, China, part of the Zhejiang Province.
Financial terms of the agreement that brings Ascletis to the Hamner were not disclosed. But the deal is much more than just finding prime office and lab space in RTP. Wu said that key to Ascletis was finding a partner who understands both the life science and business communities in both the United States and China.
In The Hamner, Ascletis has an able partner that has been working diligently to establish relationships with China’s life sciences community. Hamner President and CEO Bill Greenlee has made eight trips to China and plans to add another this fall. Also, the Hamner earlier this year joined in a business development partnership between trade officials in North Carolina and China. The partnership, called the North Carolina China Global Gateway Platform for Investment and Economic Development, aims to build trade between China and the Tar Heel State.
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Greenlee said specific details of The Hamner’s relationship with Ascletis still need to be worked out. But he expects it to grow.
“I have every confidence it’s going to develop into a larger R&D relationship,” he said.