NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Qiagen and SIP Biotech Development today announced the opening of the Qiagen Translational Medicine Center in Suzhou, China.
The translational medicine R&D center's goal is to accelerate the discovery and validation of biomarkers and to create companion diagnostics for the Chinese market. A joint venture of Qiagen and BioBay, a life sciences cluster in Suzhou Industrial Park, the center will provide services and consulting with Qiagen technologies to international and Chinese pharmaceutical firms and research institutes. It will work with partners situated in BioBay and elsewhere in China, Qiagen and SIP Biotech said.
SIP Biotech, short for Suzhou Industrial Park Biotech Development, oversees BioBay.
The four key service areas of the new center are biobanking, pharmacogenetics, next-generation sequencing, and pharmacogenomics. Qiagen Suzhou anticipates hiring about 50 employees within three years.
"Partnering with BioBay expands our commitment to translational research in biomarkers and companion diagnostics for China and other markets," Victor Shi, president of Qiagen Asia Pacific, said in a statement. "Pharma and biotech companies in China's dynamic market face special needs that we can address through this unique translational medicine collaboration, helping to accelerate the development of companion diagnostics."
Peizhuo Zhang was named general manager of Qiagen Suzhou, while Jean-Claude Muller is joining the board of directors.
Today's deal follows an agreement last year between Qiagen and Bio-X Center of Shanghai Jiao Tong University to create a translational medicine laboratory in Shanghai.