Lundbeck to tap China's R&D, setting up own research center

For the first time, Danish drugmaker Lundbeck (LUN: DC) has established its own research center in China, getting much better access to capitalizing on the many research opportunities offered there. The company has not revealed how much it is investing in the project, but said that it will be set up in collaboration with the Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU), which has assisted Lundbeck with advisory services and funding.

The new center will improve Lundbeck's possibilities for identifying attractive new discoveries in the Chinese and Asian research environments and it will also enhance Lundbeck's opportunities for entering into research collaborations with businesses and universities in the region. The new center supplements Lundbeck's facilities in Europe and the USA, thus completing the company's global platform for research alliances. The news comes not long after the Danish company announced that it was cutting head count by 125-175 employees in R&D, primarily in Denmark and the USA (The Pharma Letter August 11).

"The Chinese and Asian research environments have enormous momentum and offer a spate of opportunities, especially within medical research. Having a direct presence with our own research center, we will have the best chances of achieving the huge potential available in China and Asia," says senior vice president Peter Hongaard Andersen, head of external scientific relations and patents at Lundbeck.