Novo Nordisk expands R&D centre in China
(3 Aug 2004)
Novo Nordisk China has relocated its R&D centre to Beijing Zhongguancun Life Science Park – where it can grow, and hopefully enjoy some synergies as well.
Balloons, Novo Nordisk executives and honoured guests were all part of the opening celebration on 1 July.
New knowledge
The Novo Nordisk Research and Development Center China first opened in January 2002, at another site in Beijing. It was Novo Nordisk’s first (and remains its only) R&D centre outside headquarters in Denmark, and the research went so well that it soon outgrew its original space.
The move will allow the centre to grow from its current 20 employees to about 60 by 2008, says Ron Christie, general manager for Novo Nordisk China. Novo Nordisk hopes the move will bring other advantages as well.
“At Zhongguancun there will be other cutting-edge companies and a hospital, all with an emphasis on bioscience. Hopefully this will bring some synergies in future … for example, the hospital could be useful in clinical development,” Ron Christie says.
The Chinese R&D centre focuses on molecular biology, protein chemistry and cell biology, according to its director, Dr Wang Baoping.
More than 35 local media outlets covered the opening. CCTV (China Central Television, the top television network in China), broadcast an interview with Ron Christie both on its Chinese and international channels. China Central Radio and Beijing Radio also broadcast the news, as did more than 30 print publications.
“The Novo Nordisk China R&D Center is an integral part of Novo Nordisk’s global R&D network,” Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, Novo Nordisk’s chief science officer, said during the opening.
The Chinese authorities are impressed with the fact that the Chinese R&D centre is part of Novo Nordisk’s international R&D effort, and not a separate entity, Ron Christie says.
“It shows our commitment to China, our belief in the future of the Chinese market, and our belief in the ability of Chinese scientists to deliver original research,” he says.
The Novo Nordisk R&D centre is the first foreign-owned establishment with no Chinese partner to settle in the Zhongguancun Life Science Park.
Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, Novo Nordisk’s chief science officer, at the opening of the new R&D centre.
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