Agilent reaffirms commitment to China’s healthcare development
Agilent Technologies, a United States-based technology company, has announced its strategy for accelerating its key business arm — Diagnostics and Genomics Group, or DGG — in China, as part of its efforts to contribute to the development of the country’s healthcare system.
As an industry leader in life sciences, diagnostics and applied chemicals, Agilent said its new DGG China 2025 strategy is dedicated to furthering localization, bringing more innovative solutions and delivering stronger customer service to support local innovation and new applications in China over the next five years.
The DGG China 2025 strategy will help contribute to the Healthy China 2030 initiative and the manufacturing of high-priority products identified from national strategic plans, said Sam Raha, senior vicepresident of Agilent and president of DGG.
“Over the past few years, we have substantially increased our local presence and footprint, including expanding our warehouse in the Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone and creating a new legal entity called Agilent Medical Technologies (Shanghai). It represents our continued commitment to the China market to fulfill customer needs with a shorter turnaround time and better efficiency,” Raha said.
Agilent DGG will create a site in China for the manufacture of sequence capture probes that are used in next-generation sequencing workflows. The site is currently under construction and is estimated to go live in the first half of 2021.
Agilent DGG’s Pathology Division (Dako) will continue to bring the world cutting-edge solutions such as PD-L1 companion and complementary diagnostic solutions and support collaboration with the local biopharmaceutical industry to empower companion diagnostics-guided cancer immunotherapies for precision oncology.
In 2019, Agilent DGG opened the
Customer Application Support Center of Excellence in Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Raha noted that these facilities will provide customers with better technical support and free demonstrations and trials for innovative products.
The support center also aims to provide pathologists with new professional training programs such as PD-L1 companion diagnostic pathology training.
“We are seeing fast growth and rising innovation in life sciences from China, particularly emerging novel applications such as fragment analysis of nucleic acids and proteins, gene editing, biobank sample quality control, and agricultural biosciences,” Raha said.
“We would like to further support local innovation through co-development of novel applications in partnership with key opinion leaders and share the innovation originating from China to the rest of the world,” he added.
At the third China International Import Expo, held from Nov 5-10, Agilent is presenting its achievements made in China over the past couple of decades and showcasing its latest technologies and solutions in response to COVID-19.
“As for DGG, we have ample room to increase our presence in China and we are determined to do so,” Raha said.
“Our way of growing our China business is aligned with the Chinese government, following many national initiatives and attending conferences like the CIIE.
“Through these initiatives, Agilent will deepen its commitment and investment in China for our customers,” he said.
Our way of growing our China business is aligned with the Chinese government, following many national initiatives and attending conferences like the CIIE.”
Sam Raha, senior vice-president of Agilent and president of Diagnostics and Genomics Group