BIOVISION, LYON, France, March 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Institut Pasteur of Shanghai announces today the creation of its global biotech accelerator company Advance BioChina.

Advance BioChina is an R&D-focused for-profit organization that positions itself as the gateway to China for global biotech companies. Advance BioChina co-invests with global biotech companies into Shanghai-based Joint Ventures. Advance BioChina will incubate and develop up to 25 companies over the next 5 years to help them develop innovative products for the Chinese and global markets.

Advance BioChina's founder Institut Pasteur of Shanghai (IPS) was established by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institut Pasteur and the Shanghai Municipal Government in 2004 and is a legally independent non-profit research organization.

Ralf Altmeyer, Director General of IPS, "Biotech companies will benefit from our experience in China, our scientific expertise and technology platforms at Institut Pasteur Shanghai to achieve their product development goals."

China's pharma market has grown 15-20% p.a. over the last 8 years and is forecast to become the world's second largest biggest pharma market by 2020. The healthcare and IP-law reforms in China are improving the R&D environment and commercial perspectives for differentiated medical products.

Alice Dautry, President of Institut Pasteur, "Institut Pasteur has a long history of translating its research into applications. The launch of Advance BioChina arrives at the right time when our Asian Pasteur institutes are developing strongly at the national and international level."

Zhu Zhiyuan, Executive Director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai Branch, "There is a significant unmet medical need in all major diseases in China with huge patient pools. Advance BioChina capitalizes on the great quality of science at IPS and its network with other life science institutes at the Chinese Academy of Sciences".

Advance BioChina provides access to funding and full incubation services paying special attention to secure the Intellectual Property of its JV partners.