Chinese biotechnology firm 3SBio Inc said it agreed to be taken private by Decade Sunshine Ltd for about $340 million, reflecting a wider trend of Chinese companies going private to escape U.S. regulatory scrutiny.Twenty-seven China-based companies with U.S. listings announced plans to go private through buy-outs in 2012, up from 16 in 2011 and just six in 2010, according to investment bank Roth Capital Partners.For drug makers such as 3SBio, which has a wide presence in the oncology space, pricing pressures have compounded the problem. China cut the maximum retail price on 95 cancer, immunology and blood-related drugs by about 17 percent, effective Oct. 8.Among the more recent Chinese drug makers that went private was Shanghai-based ShangPharma, which last December agreed to be bought for about $175 million.
3SBio Inc. is a biotechnology company in the People's Republic of China with research and development, manufacturing, and marketing capabilities focusing on bio-pharmaceutical products. Shares of SSRX remained unchanged at $13.79. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $10.15 and as high as $15.33. On average, 72648 shares of SSRX exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 0.
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