Sharp, a global provider of contract packaging and clinical supply services, has formed a partnership with China-based ClinsChain to expand its reach and capabilities into the Chinese market.

Sharp will collaborate with ClinsChain, who specialize in providing clinical supply services for local and global clinical trials, to facilitate access to the Chinese market for Sharp’s pharma and biopharma clients, while also helping Chinese innovators to globalize their reach.

The partnership will enable Sharp to offer pharma clients local expertise for their clinical studies, while benefiting from the efficiency of an established reciprocal service offering between Sharp and ClinsChain.

“We are delighted to announce our partnership with ClinsChain, demonstrating our commitment to supporting our clients in the burgeoning Chinese market,” said Robert O’Beirn, managing director, Sharp Clinical. “This partnership represents an alliance of two trusted and experienced clinical service providers which will ensure our clients benefit from the best of local knowledge and global reach for their clinical trials.”

Paul Cao, founder and general manager at ClinsChain, said, “ClinsChain has invested significant time looking for a strong global partner and we were very impressed with Sharp’s experience and broad expertise in the clinical trial packaging market. Expanding ClinsChain’s reach to new markets and helping Chinese innovators reach new global markets is a vital part of our growth strategy for the future. This partnership with Sharp is an important contribution to delivering that strategy.”

Sharp has also expanded its clinical service offering in Europe through the addition of labelling and secondary packaging services at its Heerenveen facility supporting open and randomized clinical trials, to complement existing clinical storage and distribution capabilities. This service portfolio expansion follows the recent construction of new purpose-built production suites at the facility to facilitate the packaging, storage and distribution of gene therapies.