Thousand Oaks Biopharmaceuticals Group has signed a joint venture agreement with WSG Group in Busan, Korea, to establish a bioprocess solution joint venture (including cell culture media, single-use technology, and related technologies and products) in early 2021. The venture aims to boost development of the Korean biopharmaceutical industry by supplying serum-free cell culture media at commercial scale.
According to the agreement, the joint venture will develop the cell culture media business in Korea, and formulate a production strategy in line with the country’s localisation of biopharmaceutical MPE (materials, parts, equipment). It plans to build a culture media production centre by 2021.
Dr Shun Luo, Chairman and President of Thousand Oaks, said: “We are looking forward to the prospects of the cooperation with WSG. There are many world-leading biopharmaceutical companies in Korea. The cell culture media joint venture is an integral part of our global strategy and is also in line with the MPE localization strategy of Korea’s biopharmaceutical industry. It will speed up our progress in the international biopharmaceutical market and support our global partners to achieve the accessibility and affordability of biologics for humanity!”
Victor Kang, President of WSG, said: “We are very pleased to establish a joint venture with Thousand Oaks. As our strategic partner, Thousand Oaks owns China’s leading cell culture media brand JSBiosciences which holds competitive core technologies and production process in culture media. This cooperation will rapidly enhance WSG’s strength in the field of biopharmaceutical services, and we will leverage the strengths of both sides to achieve mutual benefits.”
Dr Yu Chen, Vice President of Commercial Operations Asia-Pacific of Thousand Oaks, said: “Before establishing a partnership with WSG, we extensively and thoroughly studied the Korean biopharmaceutical and biotechnology market. It was after rounds of discussion and planning by both parties that we finally reached the agreement. We believe this Korea-based cell culture media joint venture will vigorously boost development of the Korean biopharmaceutical industry and extend our global footprints in the cell culture media market.”
