Singapore: China-based GC-Rise Pharmaceutical, in which European healthcare venture capital fund INVENTAGES holds a majority stake, has partnered with Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business to tap the company's merger and acquisition potential and reshape the growth strategy.

Six MBA students, under the business school's Global Residency Program, on July 30 presented the business development planning to the senior executives of GC-Rise in Beijing.

With diverse professional experiences in varied fields such as finance, technology and commercial real estate, the MBA team produced a M&A strategy for GC-Rise after a wide-and-deep research on China's pharmaceutical industry trends, competition landscape, key players in the whole industry chain, related industries as well as GC-Rise's strength and opportunities in the market.

"The co-operation between GC-Rise and Georgetown's Global Residency Program has been three years, which can help attract global talent pool to do part in GC-Rise's growth blueprint," said Wren Zhang, CEO & President of GC-Rise.

Key ideas presented by the MBA team highlighted the fragmentation of China's healthcare market, the decreasing M&A activity in the industry as well as the projected rapid growth of the women's healthcare sector, pointing to a huge M&A potential for GC-Rise.

China women's healthcare market is expected to grow at an annual compound rate of 20 percent between 2010 and 2015. Some segments, like anti-aging and reproductive health, will see growth as high as 35 percent, with the market expected to hit 247 billion RMB, according to data from the Ministry of Health.

The co-operation between GC-Rise and Georgetown University showcases the rising trend in partnerships between American universities and international companies said Daniel Zohorsky, a member of the MBA team working with GC-Rise.

A primary advantage of working with GC-Rise is that "since it is a start-up, it feels great to be part of something that is growing. Our team gets to see where the company is headed in the future", said David Roehrenbeck. Started in 2008, GC-Rise is a relatively new company, but has witnessed rapid growth over past few years.

"What sets GC-Rise apart from other Chinese pharmaceutical companies is that it fills a niche (the women's health market)," Roehrenbeck added.

As GC-Rise continues to grow and Georgetown's Global Residency Program expands across borders, the partnership will be strengthened further.