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Germany-headquartered chemical and pharmaceutical firm Merck is trying to further stamp its presence into China’s competitive pharmaceutical industry by building a manufacturing facility through a US$108-million investment.
The company, which has been present in the Chinese market for the past 80 years, said the pharmaceutical manufacturing facility will rise in the Greater Shanghai region.
Belen Garijo, president and CEO of Merck’s pharmaceutical division, Merck Serono, said the manufacturing facility aims to serve China’s growing healthcare needs, especially in the areas of diabetes, thyroid disorders, and cardiovascular diseases.
“We want to bring high-quality medicines manufactured in China to a greater number of people, in full alignment with the government’s goal to increase access to quality pharmaceutical products,” said Garijo.
The US$108-million facility, which will cover an area of 40,000 square meters, will become the company’s second-largest pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in the world. It will focus on the mass production and packaging of diabetes medicines Glucophage, Concor, and Euthyrox.
Construction of the said facility is set to being in 2014 and to be complete in 2016. Commercial production from the multi-million plant will begin 2017.
“We have designed the plant to comply with the highest global quality standards, with emphasis on preserving the environment,” said Garijo, adding that the plant has the capacity to further expand to an additional 20,000 square meters.
Merck Serono, headquartered in Beijing, has 1,200 total employees in China. Since its establishment in the country, the company has served patients with cancer, cardiometabolic diseases, and infertility.
China's pharmaceutical industry is among the leading industries in the country, with more than 5,000 domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers and over 14,500 domestic pharma distributors.
Pharmaceutical research company IMS Health said sale of prescription drugs in the country is expected to grow US$40 billion this year and could further grow in the coming years.
