Expanding its presence in the Chinese vaccines market, Novartis announced on March 22 that it acquired an 85% stake in the Chinese vaccines company Zhejiang Tianyuan Bio-Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
"This agreement combines the strength of our vaccines R&D strategy and pipeline with Tianyuan's deep knowledge of the vaccines market in China, enabling us to better deliver a broad range of vaccines to the Chinese people," said Andrin Oswald, Head of Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics.
Novartis plans to collaborate with Tianyuan to strengthen its vaccines portfolio and pipeline, as well as align production processes and quality standards.
"We look forward to working with Novartis to build a broader portfolio of novel and high-quality vaccines to help prevent disease in China and globally," said Mr. Ding Xiaohang, who is the founder, Chairman and CEO of Tianyuan and will continue his position while holding a minority stake. "We have already identified several joint development programs that could be implemented in China over the next ten years, with the potential of launching key products responding to unmet medical needs in the mid-term."
China is the world's third largest vaccines market, with annual industry sales of more than one billion and expectations for sustained double-digit growth in the future.
