1. What is 3SBio's mission? How did 3SBio begin?
Our corporate motto is to:
Cherish Life
Care for life
Create life
Our predecessor and wholly owned PRC operating subsidiary, Shenyang Sunshine Pharmaceutical Company Limited, or Shenyang Sunshine, began operations in 1993. Our sales headquarters are in Beijing and our corporate headquarters and manufacturing facilities are based in Shenyang. We have over 320 staff across our business units. Given our portfolio of market leading principal EPO products with the broadest indications available in the Chinese market, active R&D efforts capable of developing new drugs like TPIAO, and our deep pipeline of product candidates, we believe we are now one of the leading biopharmaceutical companies in China.
2. What does 3SBio do?
3SBio, Inc. is the first Chinese biotech to IPO on the NASDAQ Global Market. We are a leading, fully integrated, profitable biotechnology company focused on researching, developing, manufacturing and marketing biopharmaceutical products primarily in China. Our recombinant, or genetically engineered, protein-based products and product candidates are designed to address large markets with significant unmet medical needs in nephrology, oncology, supportive cancer care, inflammation and infectious diseases. Our principal products are EPIAO (益比奥) , an injectable recombinant human erythropoietin, or EPO, and TPIAO (特比澳), our newest internally developed recombinant human thrombopoietin, and our legacy products are Intefen (因特芬), our recombinant interferon alpha-2a and Inleusin (英路因), our recombinant human interleukin-2. Please refer to www.3sbio.com/en/company/company_browsec.aspx?id=9 for more product information. In addition to domestic sales, we also export a small portion of our products to certain developing countries, consisting of Egypt, Pakistan, Thailand, Brazil, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago and others.
3. How does 3SBio make money? What is driving the company's growth?
Our revenue comes from the sale of our products with therapeutic focus centered around the rapidly growing oncology and nephrology therapeutic end markets. Our principal products EPIAO and TPIAO are marketed to healthcare providers including, based on our internal estimates, over 800 hospitals, clinics and dialysis centers.
We believe that with our strong name brand, synonymous with quality and reliability, and our market leading product portfolio, we are well positioned to take advantage of the rapidly growing pharmaceutical market in China. The key drivers for our future growth include: our focus on the rapidly growing oncology and nephrology therapeutic end markets; continued sales growth of our market leading EPIAO and our newest and most rapidly growing TPIAO product; increasing geographic distribution covering more hospitals; and the overall market expansion resulting from aging population growth, increasing income and health awareness, and the rising participation rate in the medical insurance system in China.
4. Who are your customers?
Our principal products are marketed by our 154 sales and marketing professionals and sold by our network of approximately 80 distributors to healthcare providers including, based on our internal estimates, approximately 800 hospitals, clinics and dialysis centers. Our internal sales and marketing staff details our principal products to physicians and hospital administrators and, as required by PRC laws, our distributors are engaged to contract with our customers for the sale of our principal products to hospitals. In addition, our legacy products Intefen and Inleusin are marketed, as well as sold, by distributors. Our sales force in China benefits from over ten years of experience in marketing protein-based therapeutics. As a result of our history as a provider of therapeutics to the Chinese market, we believe our Sunshine brand (“三生制药”) is widely recognized throughout the PRC for quality and reliability.
5. Who are your partners?
We currently have two in-licensed products for which we hold five-year exclusive PRC distribution rights, Tietai Iron Sucrose Supplement and Baolijin, a G-CSF. The products are in-licensed from Shenyang Borui Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. and Chengdu Biological Institute, respectively. We also plan to develop SSS07, an anti-TNF monoclonal antibody product candidate, in collaboration with Epitomics, Inc., a US-based biotechnology company.
6. What are your products?
Our recombinant, or genetically engineered, protein-based products and product candidates are designed to address large markets with significant unmet medical needs in nephrology, oncology, supportive cancer care, inflammation and infectious diseases. Our principal products are EPIAO (益比奥), an injectable recombinant human erythropoietin, or EPO, and TPIAO (特比澳), a recombinant human thrombopoietin, or TPO.
EPIAO is approved by the PRC State Food and Drug Administration, or the SFDA, for three distinct indications: anemia associated with chronic renal failure; red blood cell mobilization, and anemia associated with chemotherapy in cancer patients with non-myeloid malignancies.
TPIAO is indicated for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia, a deficiency of platelets. TPIAO represents the first TPO-based therapeutic approved by the SFDA for thrombocytopenia in China. We believe TPIAO is the only TPO-based therapeutic available in the Chinese market to date. In addition, the SFDA has granted us a five-year monitoring period for TPIAO through 2010, during which other pharmaceutical companies are prohibited from manufacturing or importing a similar drug, except those whose applications for clinical trials were approved by the relevant Chinese authority prior to May 2005 at the commencement of TPIAO’s monitoring period.
Our in-licensed products include Tietai Iron Sucrose Supplement (铁泰) and Baolijin (保力津), a G-CSF. Tietai Iron Sucrose Supplement is indicated for the treatment of iron deficiency anemia in patients with end-stage renal disease and generally considered to have a superior safety profile compared to other forms of iron supplements. Tietai Iron Sucrose Supplement was launched in China in 2005, and we believe it will be complementary to our EPIAO franchise. Baolijin is our recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, or G-CSF product. Baolijin is indicated for the treatment of neutropenia, a condition associated with chemotherapy. The addition of Baolijin to our product portfolio enhances our capability to meet the unmet medical needs in supportive cancer care. We hold five-year exclusive PRC distribution rights to both of these products.
Further information on our products can be found at www.3sbio.com/en/company/company_browsec.aspx?id=9
Our legacy products are Intefen (因特芬) and Inleusin (英路因), two protein-based therapeutics that had historically been significant contributors to our overall revenues. Due to unfavorable pricing and increased competition, we refocused our sales and marketing efforts in early 2004, and our legacy products are now marketed primarily by distributors.
7. Who are the company's competitors?
In China, our EPIAO competes primarily with Kirin’s ESPO, Roche’s Recormon and “Yi Pei” by Di’ao Group Chengdu Diao Jiuhong Pharmaceutical Factory. Competitors for interleukin-2 in China include Beijing SL Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Beijing Four Rings Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Competitors for Tietai Iron Sucrose Supplement in China include Beijing Novartis Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Nanjing Hencer Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and competitors for Baolijin in China include Kirin, Hangzhou Jiuyuan Gene Engineering Co., Ltd. and Qilu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
8. Where is 3SBio located?
Our corporate headquarters and manufacturing facilities are based in Shenyang, China.
Mailing Address:
No.3 A1, Road 10
Shenyang Economy & Technology Development Zone
Shenyang, China 110027
Our sale headquarters are based in Beijing, China:
Tower B-13, Grand Place
5 Huizhong Road
Chaoyang District
Beijing, China 100101
9. How many employees does 3SBio have?
As of end of February 2008, we employed over 483 staff members across our business units.
10. How many shares of 3SBio are outstanding?
As of March 22, 2007, there were 152,084,155 shares of common stock outstanding, equivalent to 21,726,307 ADS, of which the ADS issued and available for trading is 8,452,140 ADS.
11. On what exchange does 3SBio trade and what is its ticker symbol?
3SBio shares trade in the form of American Depositary Shares (ADSs) on the NASDAQ Global Market under the ticker symbol “SSRX”.
12. Who is the depositary bank for 3SBio?
3SBio’s ADR program is administered on behalf of the company by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Further information on 3SBio’s ADR program can be found at www.adr.com.
13. When does 3SBio report earnings?
3SBio reports earnings quarterly. Please see the Press Releases under the IR section of our website at www.3sbio.com for more details.
14. In what currency does 3SBio report earnings?
We report earnings in both RMB and USD.
15. How can I listen to the webcast for the earnings report?
You may access webcasts, when available, under the Webcasts section of our IR website at www.3sbio.com.
16. When does 3SBio’s fiscal year end?
3SBio’s fiscal year end is December 31st.
17. How can I download and view the quarterly and annual reports online?
You can access our quarterly and annual reports under the SEC Filings section of our IR website at www.3sbio.com.
18. Where can I find all of 3SBio's SEC filings?
You may find 3SBio’s SEC filings on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or under the SEC Filings section of our IR website at www.3SBio.com.
19. Who is 3SBio’s Independent Accountant?
3SBio's independent accountant is E&Y. 3SBio's audit committee regularly evaluates the work of its auditors, E&Y, in order to ensure that its auditors interact with management on an independent, objective and rigorous basis. Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the partner from E&Y in charge of the company's audits will be rotated every five years. Further information on our management team and board of directors can be found under the Company Overview section of our IR webpage at www.3sbio.com/en/News/ShowInfo_n3.aspx?ID=17
20. How do I contact Investor Relations?
China:
Bo Tan, CFO
3SBio Inc.
Tel: +86(24) 2581-1820
e-mail: ir@3sbio.com
Tom Folinsbee, Director of Investor Relations
3SBio Inc.
Tel: (HK) (852) 8191-6991
e-mail: tfolinsbee@3SBio.com
