Novo expands diabetes research in China
pharmafile | September 16, 2010 | News story | Research and Development | China, Novo Nordisk, diabetes
Diabetes is at the core of Novo Nordisk’s latest investment in China, where the company plans to more than double the scope of its R&D facility in Beijing to 200 staff over the next five years.
Most of that expansion will take the form of a new diabetes research unit.
“By doubling the current staff at our R&D Centre, Novo Nordisk acknowledges the achievements of the Chinese staff,” says Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, the Danish company’s chief science officer.
The firm was one of the foreign pioneers into China, establishing an affiliate office in the country in 1994 and R&D activities from 1997, and it now employs around 3,000 people there overall.
The Novo Nordisk R&D Centre China, based in Beijing’s Zhongguancun Life Science Park, was set up in 2002.
The expansion demonstrates a commitment to the country’s scientific and technological development, “while at the same time helping Novo Nordisk to get access to the tremendous resource of talents, ideas and innovation in China”, Thomsen added.
The centre is currently part of Novo Nordisk’s Biopharmaceutical Research Unit, specialising in molecular biology, protein chemistry and cell biology.
Staff there work with colleagues in Denmark on protein engineering and purification, as well as immuno-technologies, including the generation and improvement of monoclonal antibodies.
From now on, research will be widened to include biopharmaceutical approaches to developing new treatments for diabetes as well as conducting pharmacological studies.
The company says the R&D team in China will eventually take part in all aspects of drug discovery, from innovation to developing drug candidates for clinical studies.
As well as an HQ and the R&D Centre in Beijing, Novo Nordisk has two production plants in Tianjin, and offices in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenyang, Wuhan, Jinan and Hong Kong.
Adam Hill
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