Marken acquires Taiwan-based logistics company
Michael Culme-Seymour, vice president APAC for Marken told us the company has been expanding rapidly in the APAC region due to the increasing growth of clinical trial studies being conducted in the region, in addition to an expanding biosimilar production drive in Korea, China, and Japan.
“Taiwan is a key market for both pharma production and clinical trials,” he said, noting that the acquisition of Touchdown gives Marken “a firm operational and commercial footprint” in the country.
Following the completed acquisition, financial terms of which were not disclosed, Touchdown will be integrated into a fully operational Marken branch.
“The existing staff and infrastructure of Touchdown will be transitioned over into the Marken network ensuring that we maintain the local expertise from Touchdown and global support from Marken,” explained Culme-Seymour.
The companies have started an integration plan, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
The race to enter new markets
With 50% of the world’s population in Asia, Culme-Seymour said clinical trials will continue to grow in number. “We see the race of pharma and biosimilar companies to enter new global markets,” he explained, adding that North North Asia remains a growing market for pharma production.
“The manufacturing and distribution process of pharma is global and we see a rise in demand for the need of secure, fast, and reliable logistics connecting Asia with the US and Europe,” he said.
As the industry’s needs evolve, Culme-Seymour explained the company is also adapting its network to meet the demand of personalized medicine – “namely cell and gene therapy together in the shift of clinical trials being conducted from the patient’s home.”
“It is planned that Marken will continue to expand both geographically with the opening of new offices and expanding its suite of services both globally and in Asia,” he added.
