Catalan company Grifols enhances presence in Chinese market

From http://www.catalannewsagency.com/news/business/grifols-strengthens-its-presence-chinese-market (in English)

Catalan pharmaceutical company Grifols has recently improved its presence in the Chinese market, after reaching a cooperation agreement with the Shanghai Blood Bank. This agreement will help the expansion of the company in Asia, after a successful 2011 in which Grifols’ sales in China grew by 30% due to the sale of one of the company’s plasma products, albumin, and by the good results of the Transfusion Medicine business. Last year Grifols also promoted its Diagnostic Division, specialized in in-vitro diagnostics, reaching 8.9% of the sales.

The goal of the agreement with the Shanghai Blood Bank is to promote blood genotyping research in China and it is the first project of this kind in the country. Under the agreement, the Shanghai Blood Bank will use the BLOODchip genetic test from Grifols, an innovative molecular biology test, in blood transfusion compatibility studies. The Shanghai Blood Bank is one of China’s leading blood transfusion centres, serving over 20 million people and receiving more than 300,000 donations per year.

Grifols is a pioneering Catalan company created in 1940 that set the base to open the first private blood bank in Spain in 1945, the so-called "Hemobanco"’. Today Grifols's activity allows the company to market and distribute products in more than 90 countries, whereas its subsidiaries operate directly in 24 countries such as the United States, Spain, Australia, China, Switzerland, Canada or Brazil. Grifols employs 11.470 people and in June 2011 its capital share rose to €114.91 million.