Boehringer Ingelheim pioneers biopharmaceuticals move to China
First international company using cell culture technology to produce biopharmaceuticals in China utilising mammalian cell culture technology
Boehringer Ingelheim has signed a strategic alliance agreement and contract with Zhangjiang Biotech & Pharmaceutical Base Development Company in Pudong, Shanghai, to build a cGMP biopharmaceuticals facility. The new site will provide full range of development and clinical services to Chinese and multinational customers. It will become the first facility established by a leading international biopharmaceuticals manufacturer in China utilising mammalian cell culture technology.
Boehringer Ingelheim plans to invest more than €35m in the project, which will create up to 65 job opportunities with high qualification standards. The facility will include technical process development and cGMP manufacturing which will be ready for operations early 2016.
'Our partnership with ZJ Base Company is an important step in our global China strategy as it opens a further opportunity for Boehringer Ingelheim to participate in the growing demand for high quality biopharmaceuticals in China,' said Christian Boehringer, Chairman of the Shareholders Committee. 'Shanghai is our ideal partner with its advantages in investment environment, service system and talent resources.'
Lanzhong Wang, General Manager of the ZJ Base Company commented: 'We are very pleased to start the partnership with a leading biopharmaceuticals company like Boehringer Ingelheim. 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 industrialise their innovations.'
