GE Healthcare Shanghai Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plant, Shanghai, China

In October 2000, Nycomed Amersham plc, through its joint venture company Shanghai Nycomed Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (SNPC), announced it would open a new pharmaceutical plant in Shanghai on October 27 2000. The new facility cost a total of $34m to build and was in operation by mid-2001 and producing in excess of five million units of contrast agent per year.

By 2003 Nycomed Amersham had been bought by GE Healthcare for £9bn to add assets to GE Medical’s diagnostic imaging, services and healthcare IT business and the Shanghai plant (SNPC) became known as GE Healthcare Shanghai.

PARTNERS FOR PROJECT

The partners in the SNPC joint venture were Nycomed Amersham, now GE Healthcare (which owns 80%), Shanghai ZJ Hi-tech Park Development Company (which owns 13%) and Shanghai Huai Hai Pharmaceutical Factory (which owns 7%). Nycomed Amersham was a well known producer of radiotherapy and medical diagnostic products and the SNPC plant supplied the Chinese market with Nycomed Amersham's non-ionic X-ray contrast agents as well as other contrast media products.

Nycomed Amersham, as the senior partner in the enterprise, was expected to provide most of the technology as well as most of the initial capital. The Chinese partners provided some of the land, but more importantly, local connections with potential buyers in the region.

PHARMADULE AND MODULAR PLANT CONSTRUCTION

The plant itself was be constructed by a Swedish company called Pharmadule. Pharmadule carried out the detailed design simultaneously with the construction (having agreed the broad outline). The plant modules, including the pipework, process equipment and much of the ancillary equipment, were assembled in Sweden. This allowed Pharmadule to test everything before it was sent out.

The modules were made of steel, and (according to Pharmadule) are resistent to all normal climatic conditions. The modules were then taken apart and shipped to China, for erection on a prepared foundation. SNPC was responsible for preparing the foundation as well as other parts of the basic infrastructure such as sanitation facilities and the electricity supply. Pharmadule was able to install four to six modules a day at this stage.

THE NEW SNPC PLANT

The SNPC Plant occupies some 20,000m² of area in the Pudong New Area (ZJ Hi-tech Park); an economic free zone designed to promote industrial growth and development in the Shanghai area. The company has a long term lease on the premises with ample room for future expansion. Construction started in 1998 and the plant became fully operational at the end of 2000. It was built to international pharmaceutical GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) standards.

Production is based on Pharmadule's modular concept. As well as making the initial construction easy, this also allowed provision for future expansion. With a production capacity of 5 million units a year, the plant has only been able to supply a fraction of the potential Chinese markets.

SNPC PLANT PRODUCTION

The plant manufactured Omnipaque finished products based on bulk iohexol substance supplied from Lindesnes, Norway, for sale in China and nearby export markets. The manufacture of Calcichew calcium tablets for the Chinese market was also undertaken at the SNPC facility, with a capacity of some 160 million tablets/year, on license from Nycomed Pharma – a company in which Nycomed Amersham retained a 30% stake.

APBIOTECH RELOCATION

Nycomed Amersham's life science business, APBiotech relocated its Chinese operations to the SNPC plant at the end of 2000. This further signalled the importance that Nycomed Amersham attached to the new facility. The Beijing Genomics Institute used APBiotech's DNA sequencer, megabace, in its projects for sequencing rice and pig genomes.

GE HEALTHCARE EXPANDS IN SHANGHAI

In September 2005 GE Healthcare announced a $37.5m investment to extend the production facility in Shanghai, in order to meet increasing customer demand for products in China as well as globally. The same plant also underwent a review process to be the first US FDA approved site for contrast media in China. This was passed in 2006, allowing the company to export internationally. The Shanghai plant plays a critical role in the company’s global contrast media supply chain (CMSC).

GE believed in the period up to 2010 the demand for contrast media in China would grow in double digits and expansion was required. At that time the Shanghai facility manufactured around five million units of the X-ray and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) products Visipaque, Omnipaque and Omniscan, and an expansion of the facility for completion by 2007 would allow it to produce 15 million units. Future expansion was also planned to take the plant to 30 million units.

The expansion was completed by February 2007 and had added mixing and preparation, filling, sterilisation, inspection, packaging, and associated utility equipment, and expanded the on-site storage capability for materials and product. The second phase of the project is currently underway with a total investment of $74m to double the capacity of the plant again (expansion 2009).

As one of the largest contrast agent manufacturers in China, the company racked up domestic sales of about $26m in 2006 and exported production worth more than $95m. GE’s total investment in Shanghai now exceeds $554m.

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