United Biopharma expands in China with a MAb facility in Yangzhou

Taipei, Taiwan-based United Biopharma (UBP) partnered with GE Healthcare Life Sciences to build a biologics facility in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, mainland China, reports The Pharma Letter’s correspondent Wang Fangqing.

With an initial investment of about 250 million renminbi ($39.4 million), the facility is equipped with 2x200L, 3x500L and 2x2000L single-use bioreactors. Complying with China’s Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and US current GMP standards, the facility is expected to test run n June 2019.

Initially, the Yangzhou facility is to manufacturer monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) for the Chinese market, said PJ Chen, UBP vice president who oversees business development in the mainland, where UBP has formed two subsidiaries with its key investors  in Shanghai and Yangzhou to lead the China business.