Boehringer Ingelheim recently inaugurated its commercial production site for biopharmaceuticals in Zhang Jiang Hi-tech Park of Shanghai, China. The site, with the first-phase investment of more than €70 million, is the first and only biopharmaceutical facility established by a leading multinational active biopharmaceutical manufacturer in China utilizing mammalian cell culture technology. With its global network of biopharmaceutical production sites in Biberach, Germany; Vienna, Austria; Fremont, CA; and now Shanghai, the company says the contract manufacturing business Boehringer Ingelheim BioXcellence is well positioned to fulfill increasing demands of the biopharmaceutical industry for innovative products both in China and worldwide.

“Our Shanghai facility plays an important role in our globally leading biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing business and embodies our continuous and long-term commitment to China,” said Hubertus von Baumbach, chairman of the board of managing directors, Boehringer Ingelheim. “With this investment, we expect to have a significant impact on the development of China’s biopharmaceutical industry to ultimately supply innovative medicines to patients following high quality standards.”

Boehringer Ingelheim has made this strategic move with the long-term goal to become a leader for contract development and manufacturing of monoclonal antibodies and recombinant proteins in China. Since 2014, Boehringer Ingelheim China Biopharmaceuticals has been operating its Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) clinical material supply at 100L and 500L scales. After its inauguration, the facility will operate for clinical and commercial supply on a 2000L single-use bioreactor scale. It is designed to flexibly add additional 2000L single-use bioreactors and fill/finish capabilities to meet increasing market demand.

“As a global leader in biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing, Boehringer Ingelheim has an extraordinarily long history in the field of biotechnology, having been in the industry for over 35 years,” said Luo Jiali, general manager, Boehringer Ingelheim Biopharmaceuticals (China) Co Ltd. “We offer tailor-made contract development and manufacturing services to the biopharmaceutical industry, providing the entire production technology chain from DNA to the finished product under one roof. With our strong know-how, global network, technology, and international quality standards we can support innovative Chinese and international companies to industrialize their research results.”