GERMAN pharmaceutical maker Boehringer Ingelheim said today it has teamed with Shanghai Zhangjiang Biotech and Pharmaceutical Base Development Co Ltd to build a 500 million yuan (US$80.6 billion) biopharmaceutical R&D and manufacturing facility.

Boehringer Ingelheim will invest more than 35 million euros (US$45.8 million) in the first phase facility, which is expected to be operational by early 2016.

Zhangjiang Group will provide 150 million yuan worth of land use permission and factory plants in the first phase. The new site, in Zhangjiang High-tech Park in the Pudong New Area, will provide a full range of development and clinical services to domestic and overseas pharmaceutical companies.

Boehringer Ingelheim will become the first multinational drug maker to provide contract manufacturing services for local firms.

"The contract manufacturing facility is expected to lower production costs for smaller start-up companies and lift their capital pressure, and it will also help boost Shanghai's biopharmaceutical industry," said Wang Lanzhong, General Manager of Shanghai Zhangjiang Biotech Base Development Co Ltd.

"Biopharmaceuticals, together with prescription medicines, consumer health care, animal health and manufacturing will become five pillars driving our business in China," said David Preston, chairman and CEO of Boehringer Ingelheim China and HK.