Boan Biologics and Merck Forge Strategic Partnership to Build a 'Future Digital Factory'

Shanghai, November 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- BoAn Biotech, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Luye Pharma Group, announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Strategic Cooperation with Merck Group, a global leading technology company. Both parties will engage in comprehensive cooperation to jointly promote the construction of BoAn Biotech's "Future Digital Factory."

Signing Ceremony

With the continuous technological innovation in the field of drug manufacturing, digital transformation is gradually playing an increasingly important role in the development of the biopharmaceutical industry. Shandong BoAn Biotechnology Co. Ltd. will accelerate the construction of a "digital factory" by building an intelligent data environment to promote the integration of production data, flexible manufacturing, and intelligent management. This will further enhance its production efficiency, increase the flexibility of production operations, optimize production costs while ensuring quality and patient safety.

In order to accelerate the realization of this goal, BoAn Biotechnology and Merck have established a strategic partnership in the following areas for comprehensive and in-depth cooperation, including: the Bio4C™ ProcessPad data collection visualization and analysis software platform, antibody intensification processes, continuous process equipment, cost-effective culture medium development, cost analysis and process optimization solutions, as well as supply forecasting and on-demand batch delivery of consumables (including pre-market prototype products), among other fields.

Shandong BoAn Biotechnology Co. Ltd. is the first pharmaceutical company in China to introduce the Bio4C™ ProcessPad digital platform. Developed by Merck, Bio4C™ ProcessPad is a platform for data visualization, process monitoring, and analysis, supporting bioprocess lifecycle management, reporting, investigation, and continuous process verification. Through this system, BoAn Biotechnology's production system can achieve more effective control, connectivity, collection, and collaboration, intelligently integrating process data into a single, correlated, and consolidated data source for data acquisition, aggregation, and process analysis. It also facilitates efficient execution and management of key activities such as real-time process monitoring and deviation investigations.

"BoAn Biotechnology is committed to providing high-quality innovative biologics for patients in China and even globally. Its production base introduced advanced international design concepts from the outset of its construction and has continued to innovate and upgrade its production processes," said Jiang Hua, CEO of BoAn Biotechnology: "We look forward to empowering BoAn Biotechnology's 'future digital factory' with Merck Group's professional technology, which will help us achieve greater efficiency, higher production capacity, better product quality, and ultimately bring more benefits to patients."

"The intelligence of biopharmaceuticals is the future trend and direction. By building a 'future digital factory,' it can break the information silos between various production modules, achieve efficient analysis and utilization of data, further improve the production efficiency and process economy of Shandong BoAn Biotechnology Co., Ltd., strengthen the in-depth understanding and enhancement of the biopharmaceutical process, and continuously ensure the high-quality level of products. In the future, with the support of preventive maintenance and continuous, real-time bioprocess production strategies, digital documentation and data analysis will achieve a faster industrialization process, as well as more precise and efficient automated control," said Dr. Guangquan Wang, Vice President of Manufacturing and Supply Chain at Shandong BoAn Biotechnology Co., Ltd.

"We are very pleased to have reached a strategic cooperation with BoAn Biotech. As a leading biopharmaceutical company in China, BoAn Biotech possesses a fully integrated industrial chain ranging from antibody discovery to commercial production. We look forward to collaborating more comprehensively and deeply with them, accelerating their digital transformation, and achieving efficient allocation of innovative resources as well as high-quality development," said Dr. Ian Carmichael, Vice President of Merck Life Science, Bioprocessing China.

Shandong BoAn Biotechnology Co. Ltd. is committed to becoming a "globally leading international biotechnology innovation enterprise" and engages in the development of bioproducts in the Chinese, U.S., and EU markets. The company has established a modern production base covering 25,000 square meters, with an additional 40,000 square meters of new production lines and a three-dimensional warehouse under construction, expected to be commissioned in 2022 and 2023 successively. All production lines are designed and constructed in accordance with international GMP standards in China, the U.S., and Europe to ensure the provision of high-quality biopharmaceuticals meeting global standards for patients worldwide.