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Boehringer Ingelheim, the world’s second largest animal health company, has been boosting its investment in China by expanding the Asian Veterinary Research & Development (R&D) Center to enhance its research and innovation capacity. Today, the company’s new integrated R&D Center has been officially inaugurated. Located in Shanghai’s Zhangjiang Hi-tech Park, the R&D Center is currently the country’s largest integrated animal health R&D facility in terms of investment value, and is equipped with world-class R&D capabilities.
Initially put into operation in March 2012, Boehringer Ingelheim’s Asian Veterinary R&D Center, the largest of its kind established by a multinational pharmaceutical company in China, has been dedicated to discovering and developing innovative solutions to address specific livestock diseases in China and Asia. Therefore, it has set the high starting point of the new integrated R&D Center and its long-term leading strength. In January 2017, Boehringer Ingelheim and Merial officially merged, and have been going through integration since. With the inauguration of the new integrated R&D Center, the teams from both companies have now joined their forces in the R&D Center, which will leverage the broad R&D expertise to create powerful collaboration in veterinary R&D capabilities.
The new integrated R&D Center has a total investment of 19 million euros, covering a total area of 3,300 square meters. More than 110 researchers work at the center, led by eight international experts and 19 scholar returnees from overseas. In the meantime, Boehringer Ingelheim’s 8,000-square-meter Veterinary Trial Center (VTC) in Taizhou, with an investment of 16 million euros, has come into operation. As part of the new integrated Asian Veterinary R&D Center, VTC is the base to conduct animal trials during veterinary R&D. Up till today, the accumulated operation cost of the new integrated Asian Veterinary R&D Center has reached 125 million euros.
Dr. Yuan Shishan, Head of Boehringer Ingelheim’s Asian Veterinary R&D Center, said: “As one of company’s three global R&D Centers in addition to the ones in Europe and North America, the Asian Veterinary R&D Center brings together top-notch research talents at home and abroad, as well as world-class R&D capabilities. We are in China for China. We will leverage our consolidated world-leading R&D footprint to explore and develop innovative solutions especially aimed at preventing and controlling animal diseases in China and South East Asia.”
Currently, the R&D Center is running nearly 30 ongoing pipeline projects, several of which have reached late phases. Over the next two years, the center is expected to launch five innovative vaccine products targeting the China market. NNA and LDT3-A, two innovative vaccines targeting avian infectious bronchitis developed by the Asian Veterinary R&D Center, have been launched recently.
Dr. Joachim Hasenmaier, Member of the Board of Managing Directors and Head of Animal Health Business Unit, Boehringer Ingelheim, shared: “The inauguration of the new integrated Asian Veterinary R&D Center is a new milestone for Boehringer Ingelheim in China. It further strengthens our ability to provide services along the full value chain for Chinese customers and highlights our commitment to continuously investing in China. As a research-driven global leading company, Boehringer Ingelheim hopes to collaborate with local academic institutions and universities to jointly contribute to the improvement of animal and human health. We will continue to help enhance the animal health industry in China.”
May 15, 2018 - Boehringer Ingelheim
