(Yicai Global) March 1 -- Medical device maker Lepu Medical Technology Beijing Co. has bought a 25-percent stake in a pharmaceutical firm for USD14 million as it looks to expand its presence in diabetes treatment markets.

Lepu unit Lepu Holdings Ltd. and Waterstone Pharmaceuticals Inc., which is registered in the Cayman Islands, penned the deal,  Lepu Medical said in a statement. The agreement will also see Lepu take a 20-percent share in the target firm's China arm, Waterstone Pharmaceuticals Wuhan Co.

Lepu Medical hopes the deal will bolster its presence in the treatment markets for diabetes and hyperlipidemia, and aid development of new drugs.

Waterstone's China unit researches, makes and sells innovative drugs and ingredients from its production base in Hubei province, central China. Its parent's actual controller, Dr. Zhang Faming, is an eminent protein peptides and genetic engineering science with over 30 years of experience in biomedical development, the statement said.