Bayer Schering Pharma, the pharmaceutical division of Bayer HealthCare (BHC), will be strengthening its global Research and Development (R&D) capabilities through the foundation of a global R&D center in Beijing, China. The company will invest some $129 million over the next five years to establish the center. With the establishment of the R&D center in China, especially Asian patients will benefit from considering their clinical profile and medical needs early-on.
“We are continuously increasing our presence in the Asia Pacific Region where China is our key growth driver. In our new R&D Center in Beijing, we will establish a world class R&D team extending our global R&D expertise and capabilities,” said Mr Andreas Fibig, Chairman of Bayer Schering Pharma AG’s Board of Management. “Beijing will be an important site for our global innovative drug development.”
According to IMS Health, Bayer is the number one healthcare company in China and the growth rate in China was around 43 percent in 2007. China is the third largest market worldwide for the Bayer group, and it will become the third country besides Germany and the US to host a Global R&D Center for Bayer Schering Pharma. Highly talented scientific teams will cooperate in Beijing focusing on the development of innovative therapies.
“Our goal is to build a world class organization here in Beijing that will lead drug development not only for China but also for other Asian countries.” said Mr Kemal Malik, Chief Medical Officer, Bayer Schering Pharma. “Our aim is to systematically include Asian patients earlier in global drug development, breaking the tradition of ‘US and EU first’.”
Along this line, Bayer Schering Pharma also announced that it is currently in advanced discussions with Tsinghua University on entering into a unique strategic partnership to pursue research collaborations for the discovery of new disease-related targets in the core areas of Bayer’s pharmaceutical research. With this partnership Bayer would be the first multinational company in China to enter into a partnership with such a respected and renowned Chinese university.
“China is home to a large pool of skilled medical and scientific talents. Our goal is to work closely together with our Chinese partners to support China conducting their own R&D activities and at the same time we will be able to strengthen our own R&D capabilities,” said Mr Andreas Fibig.