Lundbeck establishes research centre in China
pharmafile | October 18, 2011 | News story | Research and Development | Brain disorders, CNS, China, Lundbeck, Shanghai, emerging markets
Lundbeck has set up a new research centre in China, joining a wave of pharma companies investing in the region.
The company says the new centre will help it secure a stake in attractive new early-stage discoveries in the Chinese and Asian research fields, and enhance its profile as a potential research partner for businesses and universities in the region.
“The Chinese and Asian research environments have enormous momentum and offer a spate of opportunities, especially within medical research. Having a direct presence with our own research centre, we will have the best chances of achieving the huge potential available in China and Asia,” says Senior Vice President Peter Høngaard Andersen, Head of External Scientific Relations & Patents at Lundbeck.
Lundbeck says the new Shanghai research centre will complement its R&D operations in Europe and the US, and will not mean disinvestment in these regions.
The company specialises in discovering and developing new treatments for brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s and insomnia, and hopes the new centre will eventually contribute to its pipeline.
The Danish firm says external research collaborations will also be vital, with personal relations, networks and an own local presence being “key prerequisites” for achieving this.
“It is important to be present where the potential collaborative partners operate in order to effectively identify and pursue partnership opportunities. We have previously formed a number of good and important alliances in Asia, but our new centre will allow us to build even more partnerhips going forward,” Peter Høngaard Andersen explains.
Lundbeck says it has been establishing and expanding its research network in China for ten years, but is now making a much bigger commitment with the new research centre. The company is joining the rush to establish research partnerships with businesses and universities in China and Asia.
Shanghai – the newest R&D hotspot
Initially employing more than 30 employees dedicated to medical-chemical research, the centre is located in Shanghai, and is China’s preminent medical research cluster.
Nearly all the world’s leading pharma companies have some sort of R&D presence in China, with most centres in and around Shanghai. The head of Lundbeck’s new research facility in Shanghai will be Dr. Zheng Li, who will build relationships with leading academic institutions and help establish contact with contract research organisations (CROs) in China.
The new centre will start off as a junior partner to Lundbeck’s existing drug discovery units in Copenhagen in Denmark and New Jersey in the US. It will primarily take on work currently outsourced to China, and will therefore not affect Lundbeck’s other research centres. Lundbeck expects to continue to outsource some research tasks to Chinese CROs.
The research centre will be set up in collaboration with Denmark’s Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU), which has provided Lundbeck with advisory services and funding. The collaboration also comprises a small packaging facility for finished goods in China, which will be ready for commissioning in 2012, allowing Lundbeck to control the supply chain in the China and the wider region.
Andrew McConaghie
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