in-Pharma Technologist reports this week that China plans to build one of the biggest CMO facilities in Asia for the manufacture of biologics. The CMO, AutekBio (SF Bay area), will receive heavy support from the Chinese governement (Beijing E-Town Harvest Ventures) and the Suma Ventures group on this $100 M project. This was a hotly contested project by both Shanghai and Beijing local governments.
Fierce Biotech reports that the new CMO will be designed to meet FDA and EMEA standards for the manufacture of biologics to enable sales globally. The new JV is also expected to bolster the R&D critical mass in southern Beijing corridor. The facility will be multi-product and have combined reactor capacity up to 20,000 L.
Julius Li, CEO of AutekBio, states that it is his goal "to have 10% of the world's biomanfacturing capacity lying in China within the next 10 years." Though the proposed facility is not as big as existing facilities in South Korea and Singapore, Dr. Li expects AutekBio to be a legitimate competitor for biologics business in the Asia Pacific region.
This is just another example of the huge growth being seen in China now and over the past several years. Genzyme, Novartis, and MerckSerono are just a handful of firms that have announced big investments in R&D and/or production in China.
Genzyme R&D center in Zhongguancun (ZGC) Life Science Park, pictured above.
Posted by Bruce Lehr March 20th 2010
Comments