Pharmaceutical R&D

, the pharmaceutical division of

specialising in women’s healthcare, cardiology, oncology and diagnostic imaging, is to establish a global research-and-development (R&D) centre in

.

The company will invest €100m (£90m) over the next five years to establish the facility in Beijing.

China is the third-largest market for the Bayer group and it will become the third country besides Germany and the US to host a global R&D centre for Bayer Schering Pharma.

‘Constantly improving the quality and output of research is crucial for a pharmaceutical company to bring novel therapies to patients,’ said Andreas Busch, member of the Board of Management of Bayer Schering Pharma and head of Global Drug Discovery. ‘We believe that China bears tremendous potential in terms of innovation.

‘In addition to the establishment of development functions, we will also launch the Global Drug Discovery Innovation Centre here in Beijing, where our scientists will expedite new innovative approaches together with our Chinese partners,’ he added.