GlaxoSmithKline to Double China R&D Staff

GlaxoSmithKline Plc (NYSE: GSK) announced that it will increase its China-based research and development staff to 350 people in the next few years. Currently, the company has 170 employees on its R&D roster at its Shanghai facility. That number will move up to 200 by the end of this year, and it will jump to 350 within a year or so. At that point, staffing will level off for three or four years while new facilities are built.

The comments were made at the ChinaBio Investor Forum held in Shanghai by Carol Zhu, who is head of operation management and alliances in the R&D department for GSK. The ChinaBio Investor Forum was organized by the ChinaBio Accelerator, which is a sister organization to ChinaBio Today.

These increases are lower than the numbers projected at the end of 2007. In December 2007, GSK said it expected to have invested $100 million in its Shanghai facility by the end of 2008 and have 1000 staff members employed there by 2010.

When it was started, GSK’ Shanghai R&D center had the stated goal of focusing on neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. The Shanghai center was tasked with eventually directing GSK’s R&D activities in this therapeutic area, coordinating with other GSK centers around the world and research institutions in China and globally. The Shanghai center began operations in the summer of 2007.

Disclosure: none.