The PharmSource Blog by Jim Miller

Sundia MediTech and United PharmaTech are merging, a first in the Chinese CRO industry. The merger, announced June 6th, will combine the two companies' complementary expertise; Sundia focuses on drug discovery and development while United PharmaTech has strengths in process development and manufacture of small molecule APIs.

For quite a few years, Western pharmaceutical companies have been exploring China as a potential location for sourcing. Drawn by cheap, abundant labor, big pharma companies have already established some relationships with Chinese CROs for discovery services. The rise of WuXi PharmaTech, a Shanghai based discovery firm established in 2001, has proven that outsourcing to China can be profitable and successful. But outsourcing to China has primarily focused on discovery and developmental services and has only involved the few contractors that have developed major operations, such as WuXi and Shanghai Chempartner. Sundia and United PharmaTech's merger is creating another sizeable company that, with continued internal growth, should be able to attract more business from the West.