2010-09-14 16:24

COPENHAGEN - The Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk will double the workforce in its research and development center in Beijing by 2015, the company said Monday.

The expansion from 100 to 200 employees will mainly be dedicated to a new Diabetes Research Unit, the company said.

"By doubling the current staff at our R&D center, Novo Nordisk acknowledges the achievements of the Chinese staff since the center was established in 1997," Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, executive vice president and Chief Science Officer at Novo Nordisk, said in a press release.

"And once again, we demonstrate our long-term commitment to take part in the scientific and technological development of China, while at the same time helping Novo Nordisk to get access to the tremendous resource of talents, ideas and innovation in China," he added.

Headquartered in Denmark, Novo Nordisk is a global healthcare company primarily involved in diabetes care.

The Novo Nordisk R&D center in Beijing was established in 2002 and has become an integrated part of the Biopharmaceutical Research Unit of Novo Nordisk.

It is committed to building up expertise in protein engineering and purification, as well as immuno-technologies like generation and improvement of monoclonal antibodies.

The future research scope will be broadened to include biopharmaceutical approaches to develop new treatments against diabetes as well as the conduct of pharmacological studies.