FosunPharma, the pharmaceutical subsidiary of diversified China-based conglomerate Fosun, agreed on Thursday to invest $20m in US-based diagnostics technology provider Astute Medical as part of a strategic partnership agreement.
Fosun secured the rights to distribute Astute’s NephroCheck Test, the only diagnostic test approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the detection of acute kidney injury (AKI), in China through the deal.
Joel Zhang, CEO of FosunPharma division Fosun Long-March, said: “Astute’s product helps us with early detection of AKI, which is still an unmet market in China.
“It enables a great improvement in the treatment and prognosis of the disease and reduces the incidence of serious consequences that may arise. The test provides a great help to individual patients and the medical system as a whole.”
Astute has now raised about $115m in equity funding, including $40.4m in a 2012 series C round featuring Kaiser Permanente Ventures and Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation (JJDC), respective subsidiaries of healthcare consortium Kaiser Permanente and pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson.
The round, which also included MPM Capital, De Novo Ventures, Delphi Ventures and Domain Associates, followed a $39.5m round backed by JJDC, Domain, Delphi and De Novo that closed in 2011.
– Photo courtesy of Astute Medical, Inc.