Under the terms of the deal, financial details of which are not being released, Taizhou-headquartered Hisoar will produce active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for Boehringer’s range of pipeline drug candidates and commercially available products.
The privately-owned German drugmaker said that it would carry out further processong of the APIs at facilities in its home territory, Italy, Spain and the US.
From September, Boehringer said that it will provide support and technical expertise for Hisoar’s manufacturing operations. In return, Hisoar has agreed to install new production facilities at its existing plant in Chuannan. These are expected to be fully operational early next year.
Boehringer had not responded to in-PharmaTechnologist’s questions ahead of publication time.
In a statement, Boehringer board member Hans-Jurgen Leuchs said that the firm is looking forward to “a fruitful cooperation with our Chinese partner to have in [the] future more flexibility; short production timelines and an appropriate capacity for the continuously growing demand for Boehringer Ingelheim’s medications across the globe.”
In response, Hisoar chairman Bangpeng Luo said that: “This cooperation, both from the technical and the management level, will raise Hisoar’s market positioning and standing.
He added that the deal will further Hisoar’s development as an international API supplier and “indicates that Hisoar has [taken] a big step forward towards internationalization.”
Hisoar seeks further international deals
Established in 1966, Hisoar specialises in the production, sale and distribution of chemical intermediates and APIs to the drug industry. The firm’s headquarters in Taizhou, Zhejiang province are located at the heart of one of the country’s economic development zones.
Hisoar has production facilities in Waisha, Chuannan and Quanfeng that are good manufacturing practice (GMP) compliant to international standards.
In addition several of the products that the firm makes have passed the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) COS authentication and PMDA standards for Europe, America, Japan, as well as several other major drug markets.
Hisoar has set its sights on expanding its international presence and hopes that its deal with Boehringer is the first of many such agreements.