(Yicai Global) March 7 -- Chinese drug giant Asymchem Laboratories, which counts Merck and Pfizer as some of its clients, intends to spend about CNY3 billion (USD474.7 million) to set up another production base in Shanghai to support new drug development.

Asymchem will establish a unit to build the company's second facility in Shanghai, the Tianjin-based contract development and manufacturing organization said in a statement recently. The first CNY1.8 billion plant has been operational since November 2019.

Asymchem is China's largest commercial-stage drug CDMO with its 22 percent market share, according to consultancy Frost & Sullivan. It ranks fifth worldwide with its 1.5 percent market share.

The latest plan should ensure Asymchem's ability to serve other medical companies. The new base will help clients develop and produce macromolecular drugs, a category of medicine that includes peptides, proteins, and antibodies. The products may be in mid to late clinical trial stages or they may be ready to be sold. The announcement didn't include a construction schedule.

Despite the capacity expansion, the company's stock price failed to buck Shenzhen's downturn trend. Asymchem [SHE: 002821] dropped 3 percent to CNY331.80 (USD52.50) in the afternoon. Meanwhile, the SZSE Component Index was 3.4 percent down.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi