Thermo Fisher and Innoforce Plan Chinese JV
US scientific equipment manufacturer Thermo Fisher Scientific and China-based CDMO Innoforce have formed a joint venture to own and operate a new pharma services facility for integrated biologics and sterile drug development and manufacturing in Hangzhou, China. Start date for the new entity is 2022.
Thermo Fisher said the site will join its international pharma services network, adding to existing facilities at 10 companies in the Asia-Pacific region, including in China. These have capabilities for drug product development, biologics manufacturing, sterile fill-finish, clinical trials packaging and logistics.
The Hangzhou site will also incorporate stringent quality control processes that meet or exceed regulatory guidelines established by the China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and other appropriate authorities, the US company said.
“Our agreement with Innoforce will provide critical support in helping to meet the high demand for biologics in China,” said Michel Lagarde, executive vice president, Thermo Fisher Scientific. The Hangzhou site, he added, will provide drug development and manufacturing services for customers in China, as well as for global customers seeking capabilities in the region.
Until the new site is operational, Thermo Fisher said its new and existing customers will be able to access its global biologics and steriles network, which encompasses sites across Europe and Asia-Pacific in addition to its home market.
The Chinese firm is currently building a new campus at Hangzhou. The first phase will include biologic process development laboratories, scale-up and R&D labs, and manufacturing facilities for protein, cell and gene therapies.
Ramp-up of Oxford testing capacity
Separately, the University of Oxford in the UK announced this week that it has partnered with Thermo Fisher Scientific to help ramp up its capacity to deliver Covid-19 testing data and collect and quantify immune responses in its vaccine trials.
Oxford said the collaboration would allow its new rapid-testing lab to produce as many as 50,000 tests per day. Using a device from Thermo Fisher, it will be able to detect antibodies a person develops against the new coronavirus.
Together with its pharma partner AstraZeneca, the university is developing an adenovirus vaccine to prevent Covid-19. The partners expect to publish data from ongoing clinical trials by the end of this year.
Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist
