The new facility, which the partners say will incorporate stringent quality control processes that meet China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), the US FDA and EMEA regulations, is expected to be completed in 2022.
The specific terms of the JV were not disclosed.
Innoforce CEO Yuling Li said: “Through our partnership with Thermo Fisher, we can offer an accelerated pathway for biopharmaceutical manufacturers in China – and outside as well – to bring innovative therapies to the world."
A spokesperson for Thermo Fisher said the addition of Hangzhou to the groups’ existing pharma services network will support global customers seeking capabilities in the region as well as China-based customers bringing new medicines to patients within and outside of China.
When asked why Thermo Fisher did not go it alone but chose instead to establish a JV with Innoforce, the spokesperson told BioPharma-Reporter: “Innoforce’s expertise allows us to expand our existing network and provide critical support for our global customers seeking capabilities in the region. It is very complementary to Thermo Fisher’s global expertise with state-of-the-art, scalable development and manufacturing capabilities and deep global regulatory knowledge.”
Is this facility filling a gap in such pharma services in China?
“With a large portion of the clinical pipeline owned by new and emerging companies, there is a need for experienced pharma services partners with strong regulatory and quality track records to help accelerate development of novel biologic therapies. We believe this joint venture fills a specific market demand to bring much-needed expertise and capacity for biologics and steriles development and commercial manufacturing services that currently do not exist in China,” commented the Thermo Fisher representative.
Forecast growth trajectory for biologics drug manufacturing in China
Over the past 10 years, global demand for biologics has increased to 42% of the total clinical pipeline, according to Pharma Intelligence’s Pharmaprojects database.
“In China alone, the anticipated growth rate for biopharmaceutical drugs is 15% over the next five years, with an estimated 1,000 biologics molecules in the pre-clinical pipeline, many from new or emerging China-based companies,” noted the spokesperson.