NeoStem, Inc. (AMEX: NBS, StockTwits: $NBS) announced that its majority-owned Suzhou Erye Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. subsidiary recently received two awards at the Chempharm Brand Summit 2011 held in Chengdu City, China from April 21st – 23rd, 2011. Select recipients in the pharmaceutical industry were recognized by industry leaders with awards to reward outstanding achievement in specific categories. Erye Pharmaceutical was presented with the “Top 10 Anti-Infection Drug Award” and the “Top 100 Brand Names Award”.
Erye has met several milestones and has ongoing developments as part of their expansion plans to meet the rising demand in China’s growing pharmaceutical market. Highlights and targets include:
- Expectations to be fully transitioned to its new 53,000 square meter state-of-the-art manufacturing facility this year.
- Approval of the lyophilized (freeze dried) powder for injection production line in the near-term.
- Two additional production line approvals at the new plant (the oral active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) line and the capsule line) are expected by year end.
- Production of the sterile API cloxacillin sodium, which was approved in 2010, is scheduled to be launched and in production at the new facility once the current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) line receives final State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) approval.
- Omeprazole for GERD was launched in 2010 and is currently being manufactured at the new plant.
Erye Pharmaceutical has an additional five products in its pipeline. Erye and NeoStem continue to look for opportunities to in-license or acquire new drug opportunities to enhance the long-term growth potential of this business by fully utilizing the expanded capacity at the new facility.
Dr. Robin Smith, CEO of NeoStem, commented, “We are proud of Erye’s many accomplishments to-date and believe the business is ideally positioned to capture the growth we see ahead.”
