Pfizer plans to build a $350 million biotech center in China in an effort to get its drugs to the Asian market faster, according to Reuters.
The center, based in the eastern Hangzhou region, is the New York-based drug company's first biotech center in Asia.
The facility, expected to be completed by 2018, will develop biologic drugs and lower-cost biosimilars. Pfizer plans to work closely with local regulators to bring the drugs to market as soon as possible, according to a statement on its website.
Pfizer's plans depict a recent trend by pharma industry giants to develop new strategies to tap into China's healthcare market, which is estimated to be around $185 billion by 2018.
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