Singapore: Quintiles has officially opened Greater China Regional Headquarters, further expanding its ability to help Chinese companies expand globally and multinational companies succeed in the world's second largest biopharmaceutical market. The event comes 17 years after Quintiles first opened an office in Shanghai. More than 30 leaders from China's government and healthcare communities joined Quintiles executives at the opening ceremony.

"Today we celebrate not only Quintiles' growth, but also Greater China's emergence as a global player in biopharma R&D. Two decades ago we opened in Shanghai with 20 employees across Greater China, now we have more than 1,000. Today I'm more confident than ever that the vision shared by the leaders gathered here,of Shanghai and Greater China being centers of global innovation in biopharma R&D and healthcare will be realized," said Quintiles founder and executive chairman Dr Dennis Gillings, at the opening ceremony at Shanghai's Feng Lin Science Park.

The company's 4,000-square-meter (43,000 square feet) headquarters in Shanghai's Feng Lin Science Park now has almost 300 employees and is designed to host 450.

Mr Ling Zhen, Quintiles' general manager of Greater China, said, "Many of Greater China's home-grown biopharma companies are looking to expand globally. Our investment is designed to help them develop their innovative pipelines with global market access in mind, opening the large markets of Japan, US and Europe to their products. At the same time we're increasing our capabilities to help multinational companies expand in Greater China."

Quintiles Greater China has employees in almost 30 cities and offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian, Hong Kong and Taipei, allowing it to serve all major population centers and study sites.