SHANGHAI, Nov. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- ShangPharma Corporation /quotes/zigman/625014/quotes/nls/shp SHP +0.24% ("ShangPharma" or the "Company"), a leading China-based pharmaceutical and biotechnology research and development outsourcing company, today announced that it has, through its wholly-owned Chinese subsidiary, Shanghai ChemPartner Co. Ltd. ("ChemPartner"), achieved a major milestone in the research and development of Sangamides, a new class of cyclophilin-inhibiting host-targeted anti-virals for the treatment of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The breakthrough was achieved as part of ShangPharma's research and development services provided to Biotica Technology Limited ("Biotica"), a privately-held biotechnology company that discovers and develops polyketide therapeutics.

Three ShangPharma scientists co-authored the findings, which have been published in Medicinal Chemistry Communications. Biotica has also filed patent applications (including WO2011/098809) covering Sangamides, which are believed to be a viable, host-targeted mechanism of action (MoA), with clear advantages over current options for the treatment of HCV infection.

"Today's announcement represents the achievement of a major milestone in our mission to develop an effective treatment for Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection," commented Edward Hodgkin, CEO of Biotica. "We appreciate ShangPharma's outstanding support and we look forward to leveraging this strategic partnership as we move forward."

Michael Xin Hui, founder and CEO of ShangPharma, added: "We are delighted to announce this significant contribution to Biotica's successful drug discovery program. We deeply appreciate Biotica's recognition of the efforts and dedication of our talented team of scientists. We look forward to making further contributions in making Sangamides a scientific and commercial success."

About Biotica

Biotica is a privately-held biotechnology company that discovers and develops polyketide therapeutics. It has a growing pipeline of novel therapeutic programmes supported by clinical validation. These include nPT-mTOR (unique mTOR inhibitors partnered with Pfizer), nPT-CyP (cyclophilin inhibitors for HCV) and nPT-ery (anti-inflammatory erythromycin analogues partnered with GlaxoSmithKline). All of Biotica's projects employ its proprietary novoPT(TM) technology, which enables it to select from the many known polyketides with biological activity and make a range of derivatives that are either difficult or impossible to make by medicinal chemistry methods.

For additional information visit www.biotica.com .

About ShangPharma Corporation

ShangPharma Corporation is a leading China-based contract research organization providing high-quality and cost-effective services for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. It offers a broad range of high-quality, integrated services across the drug discovery and development process to help international and Chinese pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies discover and develop novel drug candidates efficiently. ShangPharma's services consist of discovery chemistry, discovery biology and preclinical development, pharmaceutical development and biologics services.