Roche Announces Increased Investment in China to Strengthen End-to-End Pharmaceutical Value Chain

China Finance Network, May 16th: At today's 30th anniversary celebration of Roche Pharmaceuticals in China, themed "Brilliant Thirty, Gathering for the Future," Roche announced that it will continue to increase its investment in China and comprehensively strengthen the complete pharmaceutical value chain from end to end.

At the same time, Roche announced that its innovative anti-influenza drug Xofluza will be locally produced in China by 2024. This is a clear example of Roche continuously upgrading its local production layout and investment to benefit Chinese patients more quickly.

"Roche's connection with China has lasted for a century, always committed to improving the health of the Chinese people. In the future, relying on China's favorable market size, economic volume, and innovative ecosystem, Roche will accelerate in China's innovative opportunities, continuously deepen its layout in China, and persistently help Chinese patients improve their quality of life," said Padraic Ward, Head of International at Roche Pharmaceuticals.

According to reports, in order to further increase investment in China, Roche has formulated a longer-term development plan and a clearer vision, continuing to be a leading multinational pharmaceutical company in China. This will allow more patients to benefit from Roche's innovative drugs and accelerate the availability of more innovative drugs originating from China. To achieve these goals, Roche will further deepen its long-term commitment to the Chinese market, continuously strengthening the end-to-end complete pharmaceutical value chain, including early R&D, drug development, production, open collaboration, and commercial operations, enabling Roche’s innovative products to benefit Chinese patients more deeply and broadly.

"As one of the earliest multinational pharmaceutical companies to enter China, over the past thirty years, Roche has adhered to the original mission of 'acting on patients' needs first,' leading pharmaceutical innovation, optimizing the innovative ecosystem, and jointly creating a brilliant chapter. Standing at the new starting point of its 30th anniversary, Roche will continue to deepen its commitment to the Chinese market. Through collaboration across the entire pharmaceutical value chain, Roche will join hands with multiple stakeholders to build a healthy, beautiful, and sustainable future for Chinese patients, contributing to the early realization of the grand blueprint of 'Healthy China 2030,'" said Bian Xin, President of Roche Pharmaceuticals China.

Currently, Roche has 28 products in China, covering eight major therapeutic areas. In 1994, as the first multinational company to settle in Pudong's Zhangjiang area, Roche took the lead in building and continuously upgrading and improving a complete pharmaceutical value chain.

As one of the earliest foreign pharmaceutical companies to establish a research and development center in China, Roche has been rooted in China for twenty years and continues to increase its investment. Today, the Roche China Innovation Center has independent decision-making authority for new drug research and early development, covering the R&D of new drugs in the fields of immunology, oncology, and metabolic diseases, continuously developing innovative medicines for patients. By the end of 2023, the number of invention patents generated by the Innovation Center has exceeded 300, with more than half already granted patent protection in China, the United States, the European Union, or Japan. In addition, through collaboration with global R&D departments, the Innovation Center has successfully advanced 10 drug molecules into clinical trial stages. While focusing on independent R&D, Roche also actively promotes the development of biopharmaceutical innovation in China by incubating local innovations, accelerating the transformation of scientific research into products, supporting China’s innovation expansion globally, and benefiting patients in China and worldwide at an earlier stage.

Notably, the Roche China Accelerator, launched in 2021, now includes more than ten local innovative enterprise members. These member enterprises have established over ten early-stage R&D collaborations with the Roche China Innovation Center to jointly explore new scientific directions and technology platforms. Additionally, in the past two years, Roche has reached three global exclusive licensing agreements with three local innovative pharmaceutical companies to co-develop multiple groundbreaking therapies in the field of oncology, further advancing innovations from China to benefit patients.