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Strategies & Market Trends : China Warehouse- More Than Crockery -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RealMuLan who wrote (5341)	8/14/2005 8:00:31 PM
From: RealMuLan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6370

Lilly finds low-cost labor in China Drug maker opened research center that operates at savings compared with Indy. BEIJING -- Eli Lilly and Co., which is laying the groundwork for higher sales in China, also is looking to the Asian nation for a low-cost source of labor -- and not just in factories. The Indianapolis drug maker, which employs thousands of well-paid researchers in Indiana, opened a research center near Shanghai last year operated by an entirely separate Chinese company, ChemExplorer. It performs research exclusively for Eli Lilly under contract and now employs 230 scientists and technical staff, almost all of them native Chinese educated in China. With salaries in China a third of the level in Indianapolis, ChemExplorer has focused on basic research at a savings of about 40 percent compared to doing the same work in Indianapolis. "What we are hearing from around the world is, 'We want innovation, but we want it to be more affordable,' " Lilly Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sidney Taurel said Wednesday. "We are engaged in a process to reduce costs. Some of these savings will feed more research; some will help the bottom line." The Chinese expansion has led to no layoffs, Taurel said. Lilly's research has been reapportioned so Indianapolis scientists focus on longer-term research, he said. Along with a corporate initiative to reduce costs through more efficient operations, Taurel said the company is trying to gird itself for global competition. "It's good news for Indianapolis," said Taurel. "Indianapolis needs a competitive Eli Lilly." Lilly employs 700 in China at 35 offices. A Lilly factory in Suzhou manufactures Ceclor and repackages Prozac, Humulin, Humalog and Evista for the China market. Lilly also employs workers in China to package drugs for other markets in Asia. While on his visit to Asia, Taurel also handed over the manufacturing know-how for a tuberculosis antibiotic, giving the technology to Hisun Pharmaceutical, one of China's largest drug makers. The philanthropic transfer was part of Lilly's commitment to the World Health Organization's effort to help wipe out tuberculosis. indystar.com