Boehringer Latest Expansion Adds to China’s Bio-Boom
Boehringer Ingelheim has signed a deal with Zhangjiang Biotech & Pharmaceutical Base Development company, to build an advanced biopharmaceuticals facility in Pudong, Shanghai.
The German pharmaceutical firm and the Chinese biotech have agreed upon a strategic alliance contract to build a current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) biopharmaceuticals facility, a project that is set to create up to 65 employment opportunities for top tier talent. With a planned investment of over €35m from Boehringer, the new site will be ready for operations in 2016 and will be the first facility established by a leading international biopharmaceuticals manufacturer in China utilizing mammalian cell culture technology.
Traditionally, developed countries have been the source of most biopharmaceutical innovation and have thus primarily reaped the considerable related economic and health benefits of such progress. But now ambitious bio firms in emerging markets are capitalizing on drug development opportunities and are focusing on building the appropriate capabilities and relationships to compete and co-operate at a global level.
With a presence in China since 1994, Chairman Christian Boehringer said the partnership of the Ingelheim-based company with ZJ Base “is an important step in our global China strategy”, adding that Shanghai is the ideal spot “with its advantages in investment environment, service system and talent resources”.
Lanzhong Wang, ZJ Base’s General Manager also showed his enthusiasm for the partnership with Boehringer: “Through the cooperation, we hope to bring here the know-how, technology and experience, all up to international standards. With a number of innovative medicines being developed by a cluster of middle to small-sized innovative companies in Zhangjiang, plus the government support, we plan to initiate the CMO manufacturing framework at this plant on a trial basis.”
“This will provide an effective platform for middle and small-sized companies to industrialize their innovations. Thus, it will greatly prompt the development of China's biopharmaceuticals manufacturing industry.”
Hubertus von Baumbach, Head of Corporate Board Division for Finance and Animal Health at Boehringer said that the move towards biopharmaceuticals investment is in line with China's overall growth plan for the next five years, adding: “Biopharmaceuticals, together with prescription medicines, consumer health care, animal health and manufacturing, will form the five pillars driving our business in China.”
China's 12th Five-Year Development Plan (2011-2015) made the biopharmaceutical sector one of the seven key developing industries and issued a series of supportive policies. Last year, a total of 3 billion yuan was put into related projects including vaccine development, research into devices for high-quality diagnosis and protein-related biomedicine discovery.
As part of its expansion plan in the region, Boehringer intends to focus on marketing its oral anticoagulant Pradaxa and diabetes drug Trajenta as well as looking at further acquisitions and partnerships in areas such as traditional Chinese medicines.