China Blog Series Part 2: More recent commitments - First slow steps towards innovative R&D
This is part 2 of a 4 part blog series featuring growth, challenges and predictions for China’s emerging life science industry:
As early as 2006, AstraZeneca announced a USD 100 million commitment to create the company’s Innovation Center China (ICC) to be located in Shanghai. To be sure, the company did establish an initial lab facility in 2007; however, moving forward, it seems that a significant portion of committed funds will be used to construct AZ’s China headquarters as well as training facilities an regional offices. A Phase II, in which the ICC will undergo and expansion and move into a purpose-built facility, is slated for completion by 2012. GlaxoSmithKline’s China R&D center has followed a similar course of steady but slow growth. In 2007, GSK announced the establishment of a USD 40 million Shanghai R&D center which, among other functions, would serve as the company’s primary center focusing on neurodegenerative disorders. As of 2008, the company had increased its staff from 170 to 200 and stated its intention to double this number by the end of this year, as well as pursue drug discovery efforts in addition to pre-clinical and clinical trial support.
AstraZeneca and GSK’s commitments to scientific infrastructure in China are not unique- many other MNC pharmas including Genzyme, Sanofi-aventis, Johnson & Johnson, and recently both Merck-Serono and Boehringer-Ingelheim, (with planned funding levels of EUR 150 million and 100 million respectively) have established (or plan to establish) R&D bases in mainland China. Novo Nordisk has not surprisingly doubled down on its China R&D presence, announcing plans to increase the workforce at its Beijing center from 100 to 200 employees by 2015. In many cases, the funding windows stretch over extended periods of time and resources are only partially allocated to what can be considered to be innovative drug discovery research, with sizable portions also earmarked for later-stage drug development, training, and regional R&D and administrative capabilities. While the past five years have seen a healthy dose of fanfare and flag-waving by both Chinese scientific bodies and big pharma concerning novel drug R&D, many efforts are still only tentative first steps. Much attention has been given to seven and even eight figure funding commitments; however, significant portions of these monies may in fact go towards non-innovative, or even non-R&D related activities.
There is little doubt that R&D investments in China have edged ever closer to backing integrated novel drug discovery efforts, but China has yet to claim a seat at the table among the world’s major pharmaceutical R&D centers… until now?
- Dr. Jon Zifferblatt
Managing Director, General Biologic
About General Biologic
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