Editor's Corner

It's rare to see a biotech news story from China land in the top five in FierceBiotech. But if you add the notices all up, the news is pointing to the country's emergence as a global player in the next few years. Today's item centers on Novartis' $83 million investment in a new manufacturing and R&D plant in Jiangsu Province. As China booms ahead as the manufacturing center of the global economy, it's to be expected that it would develop a strategy for drug development as well. Combine the country's growing manufacturing ability with the drug world's demands for lower costs and you have a perfect match. The big global players will pioneer this effort, but watch for smaller biotechs to come in behind and start their own efforts. It's small now, but China will be big in biotech's future as the impact of globalization steadily increases. - John Carroll