Sanofi expands R&D in China with €66m Chengdu Hub
Sanofi China said it would invest €66m ($77m) in an R&D site to focus on digitalisation and big data analysis of clinical trial data, in Chengdu, Sichuan province. The Chengdu Hub site will manage clinical trial data and files for Sanofi’s pipeline, which targets therapeutic areas including diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, oncology, vaccines, and rare diseases.
According to the French drugmaker, “the Hub will accelerate the availability of trial results, from Phase I to Phase IV…[and] leverage global cutting-edge biological technology for polypeptides, gene therapy, monoclonal antibodies and multi-specific antibodies.”
Sanofi plans to employ approximately 300 local R&D experts at the site over the next 18 months.
The Chengdu Hub will join Sanofi’s Asia-Pacific R&D Centre in Shanghai – which opened its doors in 2010 – and 11 regional offices across the firm’s growing Chinese network.
China is the ‘third pillar’ of Sanofi’s global clinical sciences and operations, after France and the US, the firm said in a statement yesterday.
"Our goal is to link China's innovative achievements with the global ecosystem and develop innovative drugs in China that could benefit patients around the world," global head of Sanofi R&D operations Zhang Ji added.
Sanofi did not respond to a request for comment ahead of publication.
