GE ships prefab pharma factories to China to help drugmakers cut costs

Hong Kong

AS drugmakers attempt to move up the value chain to manufacture sophisticated new medicines in China, General Electric Co (GE) wants to sell them factories: right off the shelf.

GE shipped its first pre-made biopharmaceutical factory from Germany to China in September. The building made its way to a biotechnology zone in the central Chinese city of Wuhan bundled in 62 containers - travelling along the Rhine and Yangtze rivers and going by sea in between. In China, the factory was assembled and built in 11 days.