On December 2, 2020, Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Hangzhou Plant held a grand opening ceremony for the localization of biopharmaceutical single-use product. Javier Gimeno, Senior Vice President of Saint-Gobain Group and CEO of Asia-Pacific Region, Lucia Sun, Managing Director of Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Greater China, Helene Grussaute Nghiem, General Manager of Saint-Gobain Research Shanghai, together with officials from Xiaoshan District government and major customers attended the opening ceremony. Laurent Guillot, Jean Angus, Erns Breinig and Benjamin Le Quere, global top management representatives of Saint-Gobain Life Science, also made speeches via video to jointly witness the birth of Saint-Gobain's new, efficient and clean production line to serve Chinese market.
As single-use technology is increasingly used in the production of medicines, especially during the normalization of the epidemic, suppliers' quality control and stable supply of single-use products have become critical. In addition to the continuous expansion of production capacity in Europe and the United States, Saint-Gobain continued to invest more than 10 million RMB this year to build this new localized production line for the biopharmaceutical single-use products for processes according to its localization strategy, in order to better serve Chinese customers. Previously, it invested in the construction of a dynamic Class 10,000 clean room in Hangzhou. While fully replicating foreign production processes and verification systems, and meeting global quality standards, this production line has also been upgraded with production facilities, such as fully automating the production of bioprocess bags, which minimizes manual intervention, makes the quality of the same batch of products more stable, and guarantees the cleanliness of the production environment. The completion of this localized production line will significantly shorten the product delivery time, thereby better supporting the development of Chinese biopharmaceutical customers.
The localized production line of Saint-Gobain biopharmaceutical single-use system is located in the dynamic Class 10,000 clean room and meets NEBB ISO Class 7, GB and FM fire protection standards. It can produce 2D and 3D biological process bags, customize the design as well as assemble biopharmaceutical single-use system components according to customer needs, including various specifications and types of tubing, connectors, sampling bottles, biological storage bags, filters, etc. Based on a complete and mature global verification system, as well as a series of sterilization and other treatments after assembly, the sterile requirements of customers are guaranteed. The single-use biopharmaceutical consumables produced by Saint-Gobain have been widely used in the production of various monoclonal antibodies and vaccines, especially in the domestic R&D and production of coronavirus vaccines.
Javier Gimeno, Senior Vice President of Saint-Gobain Group and CEO of Asia Pacific Region, gave a speech on the spot, appreciating local government for its strong support to Saint-Gobain's production line and the trust of customers. Saint-Gobain’s purpose is to make the world a better home, with contributions to human life and health included. The establishment of Saint-Gobain's localized clean room in Hangzhou is a new milestone in the field of biopharmaceuticals.
Lucia Sun, Managing Director of Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Greater China, said: “We serve the needs of biopharmaceutical and medical device industries. During the Covid-19 epidemic, the demand is enormous. Our factories in Hangzhou and Shanghai swiftly obtained government permits. We took the lead in resuming work and stepping up production to meet the emergency needs of the fight against the epidemic. This made us deeply realize how important it is to have localized production and supply. In order to echo the development of China's biopharmaceutical industry, we will invest more and continue to expand localized production in China. We promise to provide high-quality, reliable, and fast service to Chinese biopharmaceutical customers in strict accordance with international quality standards!"
The customers and guests attending the opening ceremony visited the new single-use system production line and filter production line in Hangzhou, and discussed the development of biopharmaceutical industry in China in depth to jointly explore the best solutions.
