Merck opens $120m China factory
pharmafile | April 19, 2013 | News story | Manufacturing and Production, Sales and Marketing | China, Merck
Merck is to open a new manufacturing facility in Hangzhou, two decades after the company built its first plant in China, as part of a bid to bolster the company’s Asia-Pacific presence.
The $120 million factory is part of a $1.5 billion investment in R&D in China to which Merck has committed over the next five years.
The 75,000 m2 site in the Hangzhou Economic and Technology Area “extends our long-standing partnership with the Chinese government and our unequivocal commitment to help broaden access to quality healthcare throughout China”, said Willie Deese, president of Merck Manufacturing.
Three hundred million packages of drugs for diabetes, cardiovascular, infectious, respiratory and bone diseases are expected to be handled there each year.
The firm opened its Asia R&D headquarters in Beijing in 2011 and has three other manufacturing facilities throughout China, with Shanghai the company’s HQ for sales and marketing and 5,000 employees overall.
Pharma’s migration eastwards as traditional markets such as Europe begin to stagnate shows no sign of slowing down.
China is a crucial market for three reasons: it is a future economic powerhouse, it is an increasingly important location for drug manufacture and clinical trials and, lastly, it is a huge market for medicines.
Relative affluence, plus alterations in diet and lifestyle means Chinese people are beginning to suffer in great numbers from conditions such as diabetes, which were previously thought of as ‘western’ diseases.
“Merck is looking to bring more innovative medicines and vaccines to the Chinese people, and to supporting China’s efforts to meet its healthcare demands,” said Pam Cheng, president of MSD China.
“With China’s fast economic growth, rise in living standards, changing lifestyles, industrialisation, urbanisation and an ageing population, more people across the country need quality health care and access to a strong medical system,” Cheng added.
A survey conducted by the Shanghai Center for Disease Control shows the prevalence of type II diabetes in Shanghai reached 16% in 2011, more than 6 percentage points above the national average, and nearly 5 percentage points higher than other Chinese cities.
Lilly and Sanofi already have a big presence in the region, with Lilly last year announcing a new R&D diabetes centre there.
Bristol-Myers Squibb has also given the Shanghai Charity Foundation just over half a million dollars to create an efficient and effective community-based approach to managing type II diabetes in the city.
Diabetes is growing faster in rural areas than in China’s cities, and rising medical costs are an important factor leading to poverty.
Adam Hill
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