The Gateway City is trying to convince Chinese bio-tech business leaders the St. Louis region is a prime spot for investment. A delegation of Chinese investors and business executives was spending three and a half days in town meeting with local life science business leaders and researchers from the region's top universities from April 28 to May 1.
One Chinese executive, Jun Ren, president of Shanghai Newsummit Biopharma Group, praised St. Louis Thursday for having "clusters" of bio-tech companies and firms to distribute and market such products. He said his company needs to locate an operation in the U.S. to meet international standards and achieve FDA approval for some of its products.
On Friday April 30, the 40 person group will tour a variety of bio-tech operations including a research and drug testing firm C2N Diagnostic located in the 4000 block of Forest Park. Laboratory Operations Director Tim West plans to show his firm's operation to the visitors. "I definitely think there's some good opportunities for working with the people in China," he said Friday as researchers worked on a drug to fight Parkinson's disease. West said the company grew out of research done at Washington University that created a rapid method for testing new drugs. "We'd be very interested in working with the Chinese and testing their new drugs in our assay," he said.
The Regional Chamber and Growth Association ( RCGA ) was hosting the visit along with the China Hub Commission. The sales effort is designed to promote the St. Louis region as a gateway to business in the U.S. heartland. Efforts are being made in conjunction with the proposal to place a China cargo hub at Lambert Airport.
RCGA President Dick Fleming said at least 400 companies in the region are involved in bio-tech and life or plant science. "Thousands of growing Chinese companies are looking to locate their first operations in the U.S. and we'd like to get our share of them here in the St. Louis region," Fleming said.
The delegation visited Washington University Thursday April 29 afternoon and signed cooperation agreements there with the St. Louis Coalition for Plant and Life Sciences and the St. Louis Biogenerator. Friday the guests also visited the research and development center at Sigma Aldrich, a life science and high technology company and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. |
