Last week GE Healthcare announced it had teamed up with engineering firm M+W Group to develop a complete biomanufacturing plant development service, framing the launch in the context of growing global demand for biologic drugs particularly in emerging markets.
GE Healthcare Life Science’s general manager of enterprise solutions, Olivier Loeillot, told in-pharmatechnologist.com: “By forming the strategic alliance, we will be operating within a framework presenting one point of contact for customers,” adding that this will include IP access and financing, plant start-up, construction and staff training.
He added: “Many countries have limited capabilities for the manufacture of these [biologic] products, resulting in considerable unmet health needs. The introduction of local ‘in country-for country’ flexible manufacturing capabilities would help overcome this critical health gap.”
However, Loeillot did not say if GE and M+W will reduce the price of their services for emerging nations.
Instead he told us that: “The financial terms of any specific project will vary, based on a range of factors such as the scale the facility and its functionality," adding that "for reasons of commercial confidentiality we aren’t disclosing further financial details."
Emerging nations
Loeillot did provide further information about the partnership's regional focus, highlighting the Middle East, Central and Latin America, South East Asia as presenting some of the best opportunities adding that: “We are already in joint discussions with several potential partners.
“This alliance builds on our announcement in November that we have formed a strategic alliance with engineering company Neste Jacobs, with the aim of helping countries becoming self-sufficient in plasma fractionation.
In addition to Government customers GE and M+W will also offer the new service to pharmaceutical companies particularly, according to Loeillot, those “looking to establish, upgrade or expand their capabilities in vaccine manufacture in emerging nations."