Health: Houston firms find willing China market from page 1

2nd.MD covers all medical specialties in the US, but for China, 90 percent of the cases are related to cancer, while the other 10 percent are pediatric-related.

"The cancer survival rate is 70 percent in the US, and only 30 percent in China. Our specialists helps the client to make sure that they are on the right path," said Melton.

"For some, this is just like flying to the US and seeing the doctor in person, but it is so much less expensive and easier. Most of the time the individuals are able to get the treatment in China; sometimes they choose to come here due to the consultation," he said.

While 2nd.MD accessed the China market without a physical presence, Opexa Therapeutics Inc, a Nasdaq-listed company, is working to take its new technology to China through a joint venture.

"This technology came out of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. It's personalized cell therapy for autoimmune diseases. We take out the harmful T-cells, expand and attenuate them, then give it back to the body. It retrains the body's immune system to allow the body to fight the disease by itself," explained Neil Warma, president and CEO at Opexa.

Opexa has been doing clinical trials in the last decade, with a large-scale Phase II clinical trial being conducted in the US and Canada. It has lined up potential Chinese partners after discussions for a couple of years, according to Warma.

With a new drug close to release but not yet on the market, Opexa was getting inquiries from some Chinese companies. Then Warma was invited to give a presentation on cell therapy in Beijing a few years ago.

At the conference, Warma met a couple of Chinese CEOs who had worked in the US. "They are friendly and inviting, and well-connected," said Warma. He soon found himself talking to Chinese officials through the connections of those Chinese entrepreneurs.

The exchanges encouraged Opexa. "We have set up a subsidiary in Hong Kong, which we believe will lead to a joint venture in the Chinese mainland," said Warma. "We are talking to a couple of very advanced Chinese companies involved in cell therapy. They don't have the innovative platform we do, but they do cell therapy work."

Warma said that China is a sizable but challenging market.

"Right now, the only way to access patients in China is through hospitals and offer it as a treatment. That's not appropriate for us. We want to go the proper R&D route to access the whole Chinese market," Warma said.

There are other challenges. "For us, a lot of the discussions have been about intellectual property (IP) and patent issues. Also, China Food and Drug Administration is still trying to figure out how to regulate cell therapy," Warma said.

"IP protection still remains one of the hot spots, but it's encouraging that senior-level Chinese officials are open about it and talk to us to discuss the issues," said Warma.

Freya Preimesberger in Houston contributed to the story.

(HK Edition 05/20/2016 page2)