Beigene unveils new R&D facility in Waigaoqiao
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Ding Yining / SHINE
NASDAQ-listed Beigene unveiled on Friday a new research and development facility in Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone to beef up local research efforts.
"Waigaoqiao stood out as an attractive place to expand our research and development capability with about 70 percent of the high-end talent in the pharmaceutical industry available in Shanghai at the moment," said Wang Lai, senior vice president and head of Global Research at Beigene.
Beigene's second research center outside its existing Beijing lab will focus on biopharmaceutical research and will allow the company to carry out more than 20 research projects at the same time.
As part of the city's efforts to foster biopharmaceutical as a pillar industry, the Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone signed a collaboration agreement with a batch of private equity firms, medical device companies and research institutions on Friday to locate their business in the zone.
The Waigaoqiao bio-park has allocated 2 square kilometers of space for new research facilities and startups as it aims to help them transform research results into commercial products and applications more efficiently.
Michael Yi, co-chief investment officer and partner at Hillhouse Capital, said it will also strengthen collaboration with the management committee of the park to help relevant players in the industry chain to better connect with each other.
Beigene plans to nearly double its research staff to about 750 by the end of next year to carry out more pre-clinical drug studies.
Waigaoqiao is home to 718 biopharmaceutical companies with a combined revenue of 195 billion yuan (US$29.6 billion) in 2019, and is instrumental in Shanghai’s plans to become a global hub of advanced research.
