Cellular Biomedicine Group, a California-based developer of new treatments for degenerative and cancerous diseases, has acquired China-based Agreen Biotech and its founder’s U.S. patent for $3.28 million in cash, the issuance of 753,522 shares of CBMG common stock and the issuance of 75,000 shares of CBMG restricted stock units.

The acquisition will include the intellectual properties (IP), assets and talents of the cancer-therapy-focused developmental stage company. The IP is comprised of T Cells Receptor clonality analysis technology and T Central Memory Cell and Dendritic Cell preparation methodologies. Agreen Biotech had approximately $1.1 million budding lab test kit sales and technical services revenue in 2013.

The company expects to close the transaction and add 33 employees in the third quarter of 2014. Currently, under China’s regulation, cancer patients treated with T-cell technology are entitled to medical insurance coverage in approximately 10 provinces (equivalent to 10 states in U.S.). According to the Administration of Clinical Application of Medical Technology, China has numerous AAA hospitals for in-patient cancer treatment and the number of cancer patients in China is growing rapidly. There are 3,120,000 new cancer patients in China annually, or 8,550 new patients per day, according to the Annual Report of Chinese Cancer Statistics.

“The T Cell clonality analysis technology patent together with other know-how for immunity analysis, allows us to establish an immunoassay platform that is crucial for immunity evaluation of patients with immune disorders as well as cancerous diseases that are undergoing therapies,” said William (Wei) Cao, CEO of Cellular Biomedicine Group.   

Professor Zhong Chen Kou, co-founder and chief scientist of Agreen Biotech, said, “We are excited with this enlarged opportunity with CBMG to expand application of our cancer therapy-enabling technologies and look forward to initiating clinical trials with leading cancer hospitals, with the potential to not just extend life, but to improve quality of life.” Upon closing the transaction, Kou will join the company as chief scientist, immunology.