Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies Unlocks New Chapter of Localization in China To Facilitate Blood and Cell Treatment Options for Patients
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Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies ("Terumo BCT"), held a localization launch ceremony themed “Unlocking a New Chapter in China, Led by Purpose, Built on Quality” in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. The company announced a strategic partnership with Terumo Medical Products (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd ("TMPH"), establishing an entrust manufacturing arrangement the TMPH facility located in Qiantang District, Hangzhou, marking a solid step forward for its localization journey. With this strategic move, Terumo BCT aims to debut its local manufacturing capabilities in the Chinese market, providing high-quality locally made products to Chinese customers to better serve Chinese patients, injecting new dynamics into China’s "New Quality Productive Forces" initiative and facilitating the ambitions of the "Healthy China 2030" agenda.
A medical technology company founded in 1965, Terumo BCT is headquartered in the state of Colorado in the U.S. It is committed to providing comprehensive solutions in the fields of blood component collection and processing, as well as therapeutic apheresis and cell therapy technology, to help treat serious diseases and address unmet medical needs. The company now serves customers in more than 150 countries around the world and operates seven manufacturing sites and a number of R&D centers. It focuses on serving more patients and improving patient outcomes with its cutting-edge solutions and unleashing the full potential of blood and cells by continuously driving innovation and expanding global production capabilities.
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Subscribe for FREETerumo BCT is part of the Terumo Corporation, a global leader in medical technology founded in 1921 and headquartered in Tokyo. Terumo’s business portfolio ranges from vascular intervention and cardio-surgical solutions to medical products essential for daily clinical practice, such as transfusion systems, diabetes care supplies, and peritoneal dialysis treatments. As part of the Terumo Corporation, Terumo BCT stays aligned with the group’s “One Terumo” principle, which unites all associates under the shared mission of "contributing to society through healthcare."
The localization launch ceremony also signifies the successful completion of the first phase of Terumo BCT's localization strategy. For the company, the key target of this phase is to work with Terumo Medical Products (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd, also a subsidiary of the Terumo Corporation, to fully utilize its expertise and manufacturing capabilities to co-build a stable, reliable, efficient and flexible local supply chain to ensure the delivery of high-quality “made-in-China” medical products to the Chinese market.
Thanks to its firm commitment to quality and compliance, TMPH has been named one of Zhejiang’s “Role-Model Enterprises in Implementing GMP for Medical Devices.” It has also secured the ISO13485, CE and MDSAP certifications from TUV-SUD, an internationally renowned third-party testing, inspection and certification agency, and has passed the US FDA inspection with “No Action Indicated (NAI)” many times, ensuring that its customers can always access products and services that meet international standards. The commencement of production of Terumo BCT products will establish TMPH as a uniquely positioned manufacturing site within the Group, producing products from all three Terumo Companies: the Cardiac and Vascular Company, the Medical Care Solutions Company, and the Blood and Cell Technologies Company (Terumo BCT).
For Terumo BCT, the first products to be locally manufactured in China include:
- Trima Accel™ Automated Blood Collection System and disposable sets: Focusing on the innovation of apheresis technology, Trima Accel has been serving blood centers across China for more than two decades. Trima Accel is designed to increase productivity by collecting more blood products per donor and to produce higher quality blood components while enhancing the donor experience. Simultaneously, it integrates digital intelligence into apheresis collection, providing a non-paper solution to help Chinese blood centers match supply with demand and enhance blood safety management.
- Spectra Optia™ Apheresis System and disposable sets: This user-friendly, versatile, industry-leading therapeutic apheresis, cell processing and cell collection platform allows operators to spend more time focusing on patient care. Spectra Optia is used widely for a variety of applications. For example, practitioners use red blood cell exchange (RBCX) for sickle cell disease treatment; cell collections for stem cell transplantations and to collect starting material for cell therapies; and therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) to treat many diseases in both the chronic and acute setting in the neurology, nephrology and hematology spaces.
By signing agreements on manufacturing and quality, Terumo BCT and TMPH have established a unified quality management system. The system will strictly control every detail in production processes, adopt science-based workflows and both international and Chinese standards, and ensure that locally manufactured products maintain the same quality in technology and quality as those in the Japanese, European and American markets.
“China is a pivotal market for Terumo BCT and the entire Terumo Group,” said Antoinette Gawin, President and CEO of Terumo BCT. “With our ‘in China, for China’ approach, we are committed to our long-term growth here. By 2025, we plan to invest USD 15 million (approximately RMB 100 million) to expand our business and localized manufacturing, enhancing our ability to meet the evolving needs of Chinese customers and improve patient outcomes in China.”
For more than 20 years since entering China, Terumo BCT has so far supplied nearly 4,000 medical devices in the country and served thousands of customers. Its business now covers all parts of the country and is continuously expanding. In the future, Terumo BCT will continue to deepen its localization strategy and strengthen local collaboration, contributing wisdom and action to boost the development of China's healthcare industry and co-build a healthier and better society.