Sanofi-Aventis vaccine plant in China sets new record
The flu vaccine plant to be built in Shenzhen province, following the agreement signed between China and France\'s Sanofi-Aventis, will be the largest investment ever by an overseas pharmaceutical manufacturer in China.
The flu vaccine plant to be built in Shenzhen province, following the agreement signed between China and France's Sanofi-Aventis, will be the largest investment ever by an overseas pharmaceutical manufacturer in China.
The CNY700m (US$96m; Euro 65.4m) plant will be built at the National Biological Industrial Base in Shenzhen's Longgang Grand Industrial Zone. The factory to be operated by Sanofi-Pasteur, the vaccine division of Sanofi-Aventis, will produce 25 million doses annually once the plant comes on stream in 2012.
Sanofi's new plant will also be capable of expanding capacity to keep pace with the rapid growth in demand for vaccines in China, with room to double production to 50 million doses annually over the next 10-15 years.
Last year Sanofi's existing vaccine packaging plant in Shenzhen delivered 5 million doses of flu vaccine, with last year's sales in China totalling CNY600m ($82.5m m; €56m), up 20% from a year earlier.
The Chinese vaccine market is worth about €480m annually, but overseas manufacturers have captured only about 22% of a market that is growing rapidly. The number of flu vaccine doses is expected to grow from 12 million in 2003 to 108 million in 2020.
