(Yicai Global) Dec. 12 -- Lonza Group, the world's largest biopharmaceutical manufacturer, plans to build a production base in Guangzhou to tap the Chinese market.

The plant will be a joint effort with GE Healthcare to offer early- to late-clinical and early-commercial development and manufacturing, Basel-based Lonza said in a statement on Dec. 10. The project, which will span around 17,000 square meters, is part of a larger initiative involving the Guangzhou Development District, it added.

"This partnership is the ideal way for Lonza to bring our expertise and technology to China," said Marc Funk, chief operating officer of pharma and biotech at Lonza. "The combination of a strong and experienced technology provider with a long history in China, together with a dynamic regional authority, means that we can rapidly offer services to customers and ultimately get innovative therapies to patients more quickly."

"China has been historically underserved by biologics, but demand for antibody therapies is expected to grow significantly over the coming years," the statement read. "A strong scientific base and commercial instruments put into place by the Chinese authorities are encouraging their domestic companies developing innovative therapies for the global market, as well as multinationals with manufacturing requirements in the country."

GE Healthcare's BioPark Campus, the firm's first biotech park in Asia and home to the new factory, was completed in June last year and has already brought in several top companies looking to conduct research, including Thermo Fisher Scientific and Agilent Technologies, Luye Pharma Group and Akeso Biopharma.

"With Lonza coming on site, a hub of biotech is truly taking shape," added Emmanuel Ligner, president of GE Healthcare Life Sciences.

Editor: James Boynton