Lotus breaks ground on Beijing pharma complex
The facility is part of Lotus’ efforts to achieve profitable growth and is predicted to help generate sales of $150m (€110m) in the first year after it is fully operational. This represents a significant leap over the $40m of net revenues the company generated in the first nine months of 2009.
Construction is expected to be completed in July and good manufacturing practice (GMP) compliance achieved by December. Until the facility is operational Lotus’ will outsource production of therapeutics to contract manufacturing organisations (CMO).
In June 2009 the Chinese government granted Lotus permission to build a nine-floor building complex with a maximum gross floor area of 20,353 sq m. With this approval in place, Lotus has now begun production after a year of planning the complex.
Inner Mongolian pharma park
Lotus also has plans to develop a pharmaceutical park on 667,000 sq m of land that it has the rights to in Inner Mongolia. The land was acquired in December 2008 by Lotus’ contractually controlled subsidiary Beijing Liang Fang Pharmaceutical Company for about $26.3m.
In October 2009 Lotus stated it intends to start building the main body of its 33,350 sq m facility, which will be housed on a 133,400 sq m patch of land, at the site in 2010. The facility will house production, administration, storage and logistics capabilities.
Demand for drugs is increasing in Inner Mongolia and the five North-western provinces of China, according to Lotus, and the plans include a wholesale centre to meet the regions supply needs.
The remaining 533,600 sq m of land at the Inner Mongolia site will be sold or rented to other pharma companies. Lotus envisages that this will create a cluster of companies that “will find mutually beneficial ways of working together”.
