ATMI, Inc. has opened a new biopharma manufacturing facility in Beijing, China as part of a joint venture with Austar, a Hong Kong-based pharmaceutical service provider.

The joint venture, ATMI Austar LifeSciences Ltd., is aimed at producing and marketing high-end, ultra-clean sterile materials packaging for APIs and sterile pharmaceutical components to the biopharma industry in the Asia-Pacific region. ATMI Austar LifeSciences will produce certain ATMI LifeSciences products, including Cleansteam products, with local blow-film extrusion and packaging converting lines using a copy-exact strategy. The new facility also has potential expansion opportunities for ATMI’s Integrity line of bioprocess vessels (BPVs) manufacturing.

“This joint venture not only provides ATMI LifeSciences with access to the API and biopharmaceutical markets in Asia but also access to Austar’s existing ISO Class V GMP-certified, cleanroom-based infrastructure that we can begin to leverage immediately,” commented Mario Philips, general manager and senior vice president of ATMI LifeSciences. “Together, under the ATMI Austar LifeSciences banner, we are working to create a new standard for advanced materials packaging for pharmaceutical manufacturing throughout the region.”

“We believe that the flexibility and value that we offer will result in the pharmaceutical manufacturers converting to the film-based, single-use packaging products that ATMI Austar LifeSciences will be able to provide locally,” said Mars Ho, chief executive officer of Austar. “The pharmaceutical market in Asia is expanding rapidly as more multinational firms look to extend their manufacturing capabilities into this vital region. Local supply and support is an important competitive differentiator.”