The site in Shanghai, China will offer biopharma customers access to MilliporeSigma’s range of end-to-end process development capabilities and services, including cell line development, upstream and downstream process development and non-GMP clinical production.
The centre will be operated under the Bioreliance brand, added to Germany’s Merck through its acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich in 2015, and is the first such centre to open its doors outside of Europe.
“Our new BioReliance End-to-End Biodevelopment Center will host small-scale drug manufacturers working on early-phase clinical trials,” MilliporeSigma CEO Udit Batra said in a statement.
It is designed to target customers in the APAC region through an integrated suite of services for biopharmaceutical helping to accelerate clinical drug development from molecule to commercial production.
The centre is modelled on the firm’s site in Martillac, France which offers a single-use, GMP facility for manufacturing clinical-stage batches and is equipped with MilliporeSigma technologies, including the 2000-liter single-use Mobius bioreactor.
The firm has also planned a 280,000 sq ft facility in Burlington, Massachusetts.