Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) said that it will invest 388 million yuan (US$48.5 million) to construct a manufacturing plant in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province, in the next few years.
The plant will produce rapid diagnostic products for flu and viral infections as demand grows for clinical testing and rapid diagnosis for bird flu and other viral infections. The plant will produce six million rapid diagnostic products per year in the coming three years, according to a report from the company, making it one of the industry's largest manufacturers.
Mike Meehan, president of Rapid Manual Testing for BD, said the firm's large-scale production of this type of instrument was a response to the increasingly serious flu pandemic. "Our objectives are to be close to our customers and to make rapid diagnostic products accessible to a wide range of markets. Recognizing the rapidly growing healthcare market in China, we decided it would be an excellent location to build product development and manufacturing capabilities," said Meehan.
Since late 2003, about 200 people have died worldwide from the H5N1 strain of bird flu, according to a World Health Organization report. The virus is mutating to spread to humans and could cause global economic losses of US$800 billion in the first year of the pandemic alone, according to World Bank data.
Italy-based STMicro and Veredus are also developing a product to identify the lethal virus strain in the field in about an hour. But the devices won't be market-ready until the fourth quarter, in time for the next flu season.
Meehan said BD primarily chose Suzhou for its plant because of China's recent progress on the research of flu and viral infections. "We are investing here because there are talented and well-trained scientists, as well as a sound infrastructure and business environment in Suzhou," said Meehan. "And they will strengthen BD's global workforce." Meehan said the company is planning to build a diagnostic research centre in Suzhou. "We hope that as we establish our research capability, we will be able to develop diagnostics that are very well attuned to the needs of the Chinese medical community," said Meehan.
The products to be manufactured in Suzhou will be able to diagnose a number of bacterial, parasitic and viral diseases such as influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. BD is expected to begin production in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2007, and plans to eventually manufacture products to diagnose about 30 infectious diseases. These products will be exported to countries and regions around the world including the United States, Japan, Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Source:佚名