The laboratory – in Beijing's YiZhuang Biomedical Park – will offer solid dose formulation expertise covering everything from prototype development and pilot-scale production through to final dosage form manufacturing.
According to Simon Tasker, Managing Director, Colorcon NESEA, the lab is part of a series of investments designed to meet the demands of Chinese drugmakers.
He told us “speed to market is imperative in China, and Colorcon is uniquely resourced by skilled technologists to focus on ensuring our customers benefit from the latest applications knowledge of immediate and controlled release technologies.”
Tasker added that “We have developed an organization, including local manufacturing, to provide real time support and consultancy, covering everything from R&D to production scale up, regulatory support and ongoing training and education.”
Chinese presence
Colorcon already operates a laboratory in China – in Shanghai – that was established in 1993 as a hub for the provision of pill coating and development services – including the firm’s Opadry technology - to drugmakers on the country’s East coast.
Tasker told us “the Formulation Centre of Excellence (FCE), in Shanghai, is one of five Colorcon specialist centres that provide starting formulations to customers to help them accelerate the drug development process.”
Colorcon’s other adaption to the Chinese market is the provision of formulation development services to the country’s huge traditional medicines market, which generates revenue of around $22bn (€20bn) a year according to IBIS World.
According to Tasker, staff at the Shanghai site have “adapted film coating technologies to meet the specialized needs of the China market, resulting in innovative coatings specifically designed to increase process productivity and improve product stability for coated Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) dosage forms.”