Wise Sky (Hong Kong) Limited Suffers Due to Last Minute Pull-out
SHANGHAI, Sept. 2 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Wise Sky (Hong Kong) Limited today announced its disappoint at the recent decision made by Emergent BioSolutions not to enter the China market. Wise Sky conducted product promotions and sales of BioThrax, a vaccine produced by Emergent BioSolutions, under the terms of an agreement signed with Emergent BioSolutions on June 3, 2009, and is therefore disappointed and concerned by Emergent BioSolution’s decision to not enter the Mainland China market despite having an agreement in place with Wise Sky.
Emergent BioSolutions is a NASDAQ listed company famous for the production of BioThrax, the only vaccine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the prevention of anthrax infection. In early 2009, Emergent made clear their decision to enter Asian markets including Mainland China, one of the biggest markets concerned. The vice presidents and other important managers of Emergent then visited China several times, attending meetings and conferences with medicine experts, getting the chance to exchange their thoughts and ideas with China’s top professionals and government officers, as a result of efforts and arrangements undertaken by Wise Sky (Hong Kong) Limited. In May 2009, Emergent and Wise Sky signed an exclusive marketing agreement. According to this agreement, Emergent agreed to authorize Wise Sky to sell BioThrax as its representative within the territory of Mainland China.
In China, the major clients for anti-terrorism products are the government authorities, government-funded special departments and the armed forces. Due to the importance of importing the anti-terrorism products, the whole administrative procedure for market entrance is complicated and time-consuming, especially for the vaccine products that require the approval of, and registration in, China’s State Food and Drug Administration ("SFDA"). Wise Sky is a professional trading agent who has wide government connections and lots of experience in the sale of medicines and anti-terrorism products. Taking advantage of the good relationship with the government, Wise Sky sought purchasers all around China and successfully reached preliminary purchase intentions with several buyers such as the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination and the Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention ("SCDC"). Also, Wise Sky was actively negotiating with the government, trying to expedite the approval process for BioThrax. However, after a long time of waiting and internal discussions, Emergent finally decided against filing BioThrax with the SFDA in early 2010, which ultimately cancelled the marketing agreement, as sales and promotions could not continue. Wise Sky also received a formal letter from Emergent terminating the marketing agreement without any compensation. The letter was dated April 26, 2010.
Wise Sky understands Emergent’s decision to not enter the Mainland China market is their own business decision. However, in addition to the loss of orders, commissions and promotion expenses, Wise Sky strongly believes that Emergent’s decision damages the name of Wise Sky, in a more profound way, by causing a loss of goodwill in China and jeopardizing the relationship between Wise Sky and China’s governing authorities, which Wise Sky spent years to establish and maintain. Wise Sky believes this turn of events will have a negative influence and will further affect the marketing of other anti-terrorism products represented by Wise Sky in Mainland China. Wise Sky extends its disappointment at Emergent’s decision not to enter the china market.
