BMP Sunstone Corporation announced that it received the New Business License for BMP Sunstone's establishment of an enterprise with foreign investment in the People's Republic of China, from the Shanghai Administration for Industry and Commerce (SHAIC). With receipt of this license, the company has completed the acquisition of 63.3 per cent of Shanghai Rongheng Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Rongheng). Shanghai Rongheng International Trade Co., Ltd. of Orient International (Holding) Co., CAS Shanghai Shenglongda Biotech Group and one other individual own the remainder of Rongheng.

David Gao, chief executive officer of BMP Sunstone stated, "We are very pleased to complete the Rongheng acquisition, which is one more important step in our corporate mission to control direct access to the high end pharmaceutical markets in Beijing, Shanghai and the Guangdong province. These areas are China's top pharmaceutical markets and generate roughly 60 percent of all high-end pharmaceutical imports into the country. Through this acquisition, BMP Sunstone will gain direct coverage of 80 percent of the top-tier hospitals and 40 percent of the retail pharmacies in Shanghai, which enable us to penetrate the market more effectively and increase our market share in this important city.''

Rongheng is a pharmaceutical distribution company which distributes over 400 pharmaceutical products to more than 140 top-tier hospitals and 1,000 retail pharmacies in Shanghai. Rongheng was founded in 1999 by CAS Shanghai Shenglongda Biotech Group, a high-tech biomedical group focused on research and development, marketing and sales of new biotechnology and pharmaceuticals in China, and Orient International (Holding) Co., one of the largest foreign trade enterprises in China.

Gao continued, ''We believe that today's achievement is in the best interest of our customers, employees and shareholders and I'd like to thank all of our constituents for their hard work completing this acquisition. The closing of the Rongheng acquisition marks a major milestone for BMP Sunstone to complete our strategic initiatives to establish distribution networks in China.''

BMP Sunstone Corporation is a specialty pharmaceutical company that is building a proprietary portfolio of branded pharmaceutical and healthcare products in China and is pursuing partnerships with other companies seeking to enter the Chinese pharmaceutical market. It is the only US public company to offer industry partners a comprehensive suite of market-entry services in China that includes pre-market entry analysis, clinical trial management, product registration, market research, as well as pharmaceutical marketing and distribution.