by Hou Ruining

Swiss drugmaker Roche is investing 2.04 billion yuan (US$282 million) to build a new biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Shanghai, stepping up its commitment to local production and strengthening its end-to-end pharmaceutical value chain in China.

The new site will be located in the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park in Pudong, covering about 53 mu (roughly 35,300 square meters) with a planned construction area of 25,000 square meters. Completion is expected in 2029, with full operations to begin in 2031. The plant will produce Faricimab, a treatment for retinal diseases, for the China market.

It will be Roche’s second manufacturing site for innovative drugs in China, operating alongside its existing facility just a few hundred meters away at the company’s China headquarters campus.

Founded in 1896 and headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche operates across pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, vitamins and fine chemicals, as well as fragrances and flavors. The company was the first multinational pharmaceutical firm to establish a presence in Zhangjiang in 1994. Its first local production facility came online in 1997, followed by a high-potency drug manufacturing unit in 2005. Roche now markets 30 products in China across eight major therapeutic areas.

The latest investment follows a series of expansions in China. In August 2024, Roche’s diagnostics unit signed an agreement with authorities in Suzhou to expand its local operations. The 3 billion yuan (US$414 million) project includes a new 60,000-square-meter facility for the production of diagnostic reagents and instruments, set to begin operations in 2028.