Polaris Group to Build Factory in Taiwan to Produce Anti-Cancer Drug

2011/11/17 Taipei, Nov. 17, 2011 (CENS)--Polaris Group of the United States, a privately held multinational biopharmaceutical company specializing in research and development of protein drugs to treat cancer and other debilitating diseases in humans, plans to set up a new protein-injection factory in Taiwan for total investment of about US$50 million. The factory will mass produce Polaris Group-developed ADI-PEG 20 products, with targeted annual production value of about US$2 billion. ADI-PEG 20 is a biologic being developed by Polaris to treat cancers carrying a major metabolic defect that renders them, unlike normal cells, unable to make arginine internally. A reinvested company of Taiwan-based Hsin Tung Yang Corp., Polaris recently signed an investment memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Hsinchu County Government. According to Polaris, its ADI-PEG 20 has been identified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an orphan drug, a pharmaceutical agent that has been developed specifically to treat a rare medical condition; and the new drug has completed Phase 2 clinical trial in Taiwan, proving its lower side-effects than counterparts. ADI-PEG 20 is advancing into a pivotal Phase 3 trial, while Polaris is also investigating ADI-PEG 20 as a treatment for other cancers, such as metastatic melanoma, prostate cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, sarcoma and pancreatic cancer. Polaris estimate the new drug can pass the Phase 3 trial and win the FDA certification in the second quarter of 2014. Hsin Tung Yang, the largest shareholder in Polaris with a 37% stake, has over 90% of its shares held by local investors as domestic banks, enterprises, venture capital firms, and government units. Polaris plans to kick off factory construction in the second quarter of 2012 and complete it by the second quarter of 2014, with help from its Taiwan affiliate TDW Pharmaceuticals Inc. To facilitate the factory construction, TDW Pharmaceuticals is scheduled to raise initially by the yearend about US$20 million.