Pfizer invests big in biosimilar production in China

Pfizer is to invest approximately $350 million in the development of a state-of-the-art Global Biotechnology Centre in the Hangzhou Economic Development Area (HEDA) in China.

This will be Pfizer’s third biotechnology centre globally and the first in Asia. It will ensure the local production biosimilar medicines that will benefit patients both in China and throughout the world.

This Global Biotechnology Centre, expected to be completed in 2018, will include an advanced modular facility by GE Healthcare, based on flexible single-use bio-manufacturing technology that meets strict international standards for quality, safety and efficiency, as well as accelerated speed of construction and superior environmental standards.

Pfizer ‘encouraged’ by recent reforms in China

Pfizer says it will work closely with Chinese regulators to bring the biosimilar products produced at the Pfizer Global Biotechnology Centre in Hangzhou to market as soon as possible.

“We believe that the Pfizer Global Biotechnology Centre in Hangzhou will help support China’s aim to increase the complexity and value of its manufacturing sector by 2025, and contribute to building a truly innovative and vibrant biopharmaceutical industry,” said John Young, Group President, Pfizer Essential Health. “We are encouraged by a series of important reforms introduced by Chinese government that will further stimulate the industry to meet emerging health challenges, such as the rising incidence of non-communicable diseases and an aging population; as well as attract both domestic and foreign investment in healthcare and R&D.”

The new facility will house Pfizer China’s Biosimilars and Biologics Quality, Technical Service, Logistics and Engineering divisions, in addition to commercial manufacturing, and will also serve as a process development and clinical supply site.

The centre will create more than 150 job opportunities and establish local biotechnology expertise that, Pfizer says, will help strengthen and promote innovation as well as modernize China’s biopharmaceutical industry.