GSK Will Build Shanghai R&D Center

GlaxoSmithKline says it will build a drug discovery center in Shanghai that within a decade will rank as one of its largest such facilities worldwide. The center will focus on developing treatments for neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. GSK CEO Jean-Pierre Garnier had revealed plans for the R&D facility in February without providing details. The company now says the center will be led by Jingwu Zhang, an immunologist who earlier was research director of the Baylor College of Medicine's Multiple Sclerosis Center, in Houston. A GSK spokeswoman says Zhang will determine the new center's location and staffing level. Many Western firms are setting up R&D centers in the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park.