Full article reprinted from "PharmAsia News" November 5, 2008
Find out why Roche is laying the groundwork for a major new phase in expansion across China through partnerships with promising pharmaceutical research outfits and biotechnology start-ups, according to senior Roche executives...
Full article reprinted from "PharmAsia News" November 5, 2008
Roche Sets Groundwork For Rapid Expansion In China Through R&D Partnerships
Roche is laying the groundwork for a major new phase in expansion across China through partnerships with promising pharmaceutical research outfits and biotechnology start-ups, according to senior Roche executives.
Roche, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, is in the process of setting up a Pharma Partnering Asia Office in Shanghai, alongside its research center in the city's Zhangjiang High-Tech Park, said Roche executive Albert Cao.
Cao said in an interview that the new partnering office would complement Roche's similar operation in Japan, and would be in charge of seeking out and establishing partnerships across China, South Korea and Southeast Asia.
"China currently has one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical markets in the world," Cao told PharmAsia News. "China is of strategic importance to Roche's development," he added.
Last year, Roche launched its Pharmaceutical Development Center China in Shanghai, and in 2005 opened a manufacturing plant in the city. As part of the new phase of growth, Roche's manufacturing facilities are also being enlarged and upgraded.
"From a global perspective, Shanghai is becoming the next big center for drug innovations," said Cao, who is based in Shanghai. "China has increasing power in pharmaceutical development," he added.
Roche has already invested more than RMB 1 billion in its research and manufacturing operations in Shanghai, Cao noted.
With the fast-paced growth of China's pharma sector, the country could become the newest arena for Roche's global series of acquisitions.
In its most recent earnings report, Roche's pharmaceutical division registered 15 percent growth in sales in the Asia-Pacific region, which includes China, during the first half of 2008. The Roche Group posted worldwide sales of 22 billion Swiss francs ($19.05 billion) in the first half of 2008, compared with 22.88 billion Swiss francs in the corresponding period of 2007. Net income for the Roche Group dipped to 5.73 billion Swiss francs in the first half of this year from 5.86 billion Swiss francs in the first six months of 2007.
The Swiss pharma powerhouse also reported that in the first half of 2008, the Group paid 3.8 billion Swiss francs to acquire U.S.-based diagnostics company Ventana and nearly 1 billion Swiss francs to increase its stake in the Japanese-based Chugai to 59.9 percent from 50.1 percent.
Now, Roche is placing a new focus on China for potential alliances, Cao said.
There are a lot of universities and research and development centers in China doing a great job in developing innovative drugs," he said.
Roche has already created partnerships with Shanghai's Fudan University and Jiaotong University aimed at developing drug delivery technologies, the Roche executive said.
Roche is now preparing to seek out partnerships with innovative Chinese biopharmaceutical and pharma companies, he said, but declined to provide any more details.
Yet he added that the creation of a new partnership center in Shanghai "sets the stage for Roche's rapid development in China."
Asia partnerships with biotechs are increasingly critical for big pharma's drying pipelines, a Merck exec told Bio Korea attendees Oct. 8.
Roche's decision to forge a web of alliances in China "has nothing to do with the global financial crisis," Roche's Cao explained. "Our decision to expand here was taken before the financial turmoil started," he said.
Meanwhile, the expansion of Roche's research and manufacturing operations in Shanghai will involve building a state-of-the-art sampling and testing center for prescription medicines.
China's Yangtze delta, which includes Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing and Hangzhou, is expected to be the largest CRO cluster in the world by 2015 and Shanghai will be the number one city in the world by number of scientists engaged in commercial drug discovery (PharmAsia News, Sept. 8, 2008).
Ten multinational pharmaceutical companies set up R&D centers in China by the end of 2007, most in the booming high-tech parks in Shanghai and Beijing. Servier Pharmaceutical and Novo Nordisk set up R&D centers in Beijing, while AstraZeneca, Lilly, Roche, Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, Holland DSM, Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline have established various centers in Shanghai for R&D and clinical research.
- Kevin Holden
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Companies mentioned:
Roche
AstraZeneca
Eli Lilly
Pfizer
Sanofi-Aventis
GlaxoSmithKline
Novartis
