German biopharmaceutical company prioritizing the Chinese market

Credit: HelloRF

German biopharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim plans to invest 4 billion yuan (US$556 million) in research and development of human medicines and animal health in China to advance innovative treatments and solutions.

"The further opening up and picking up of cross-border business interactions provides a solid foundation for our business prospects as we continue to to prioritize the China market," said Mohammed Tawil, president and CEO of Boehringer Ingelheim China.

China is one of the company's focus markets and an important source of innovation and clinical trials, he added.

For its human pharmaceuticals business it's eyeing around 3.5 billion yuan of investment in research and development in the next five years with an estimate of over 25 regulatory approvals for new and existing medicines by 2030.

China has been included in all of its early stage clinical trials to achieve parallel product registration with other parts of world.

Domestic researchers and clinical trials have been included in 19 global early stage clinical programs at the company as of March this year.

Tawil has witnessed the innovation mindset of the healthcare sector and the advanced level of clinical trial implementation in the country after taking office in January.

Last month, the Chinese National Medical Products Administration approved one of its biomedicine injections for the treatment of a rare inflammatory skin disorder among patients aged 12 and above, which came ahead of US and European approvals.

This truly reflects the innovation mindset of the healthcare sector and the reforms to speed up innovative medicine approval in China, he noted.

Earlier this month, the company formed a strategic partnership with Sino Biopharm to develop and commercialize several of Boehringer Ingelheim's late-stage oncology products.