US-based medical devices manufacturer Sanovas signed a deal with the government of the Chinese city of Suzhou in China on Monday to create a venture capital fund and establish an innovation centre.
The Sanovas Suzhou Venture Capital Fund is equipped with $75m in cash and will focus on areas relevant to the company’s operations, including surgical imaging, thoracic oncology, interventional pulmonology, ear, nose and throat treatments, ophthalmology and bioscience.
The innovation centre will be located at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Suzhou Institute of Nanotechnology and Nanobionics (Sinano) within the Suzhou Industrial Park Biotechnology Innovation Center at BioBay. The hub’s aim is to help drive the company’s product development and sales in China.
Sanovas, which will conduct its operations in China through newly created subsidiary Sanovas Suzhou, will gain access to Sinano’s faculty, scientists and engineers as well as local hospitals and Oxford University Research Institute, which is also located in Suzhou Industrial Park.
Sanovas has developed a range of minimally invasive diagnostic and therapeutic technologies that are less expensive than comparable products, allowing medical professionals to conduct a greater number of procedures in more places.