Bayer has opened a new production site for over-the-counter (OTC) drugs at the Majinpu bioengineering and pharmaceutical industry park in Yunnan, China. Its second state-of-the-art production site in Asia-Pacific will be devoted to both traditional Chinese (TCM) and western medicine.

Construction of the facility was begun under former owner Dihon, which was acquired by Bayer for around €500 million in 2014. The first construction phase received the GMP certificate for its partial TCM production line, which after a further upgrade will produce Bayer’s key TCM product, Dan E Fu Kang, a treatment for gynecological ailments such as dysmenorrhea.

“The site consolidates Bayer’s TCM supply capabilities in Yunnan,” said Lance Yuen, head of Bayer Consumer Health in Greater China, adding that it will boost manufacturing capacity for TCM products threefold in 2015 and nearly triple capacity for all Dihon products by 2020.

Up to 2020, Yuen said the German group will have invested 1.4 billion yuan (about €196 million) at the site, making it a full-fledged hub for its TCM and Western drugs and “further accelerating Bayer’s transformation from treating illness to promoting wellness.”

The acquisition of Dihon gave Bayer several other manufacturing sites in China, including a facility in Kunming National Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone. In 2014, the group said it would invest €100 million to expand packaging and logistics at its pharmaceuticals packaging site at Beijing, making it the largest in the global Bayer HealthCare network.