The Chinese government has significantly increased the R&D budget for China’s pharmaceutical industry as the country competes with other emerging nations and positions itself to play in the largest pharmaceutical markets by 2020.
In addition, many domestic and foreign organisations are lured to China because the cost of doing preclinical research in China is about one-third the cost of doing research in the US and Europe.
Instem CEO Phil Reason said in a statement that, “Instem was the first western toxicology/pathology software supplier to enter the Chinese market, and we have added 3 new clients in just the last 12 months.
“To deliver the exceptional client experience and meet the demand in China during this period of national growth, we believe a local Instem office and team was necessary.”
The office will be located in the Zhangjiang High-Tech Park, in Shanghai’s Pudong district, which also houses China’s National Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) and the local operations of UK drug major AstraZeneca.
Penny Stockley has been appointed general manager in charge of Asian operations, and will manage all locally-hired Instem staff and oversee Asian-Pacific operations. She recently relocated to Shanghai.
Instem will also be providing online access to its Provantis software application from a Tier 3 Shanghai-based data center, so that it can provide the application as an all-inclusive service to its clients. Provantis manages processes and workflows for preclinical drug safety assessment.