IMCD Group (“IMCD” or “Company”), a global leader in the distribution and formulation of speciality chemicals and ingredients, announces the official opening of its newly reorganised and expanded Life Science Laboratory hub in Shanghai. This investment highlights IMCD’s continued commitment to innovation expertise, technical excellence, and collaborative partnerships in China and the broader Asia-Pacific region.
The newly inaugurated Life Science Laboratory hub is dedicated to supporting life science industries with newly established or upgraded laboratories for Beauty & Personal Care, Pharmaceuticals, and Food & Nutrition. The hub brings together the three laboratories to increase cross-industry exchanges and enhance our offerings to our customers and partners. The compound is part of the East China University of Science & Technology, allowing close collaboration with the University on talent development and innovation.
IMCD’s global network of over 80 technical centres and laboratories plays a vital role in fostering collaboration with suppliers and customers, enabling the co-creation of solutions to address complex formulation challenges and to anticipate industry trends. By combining deep local expertise with IMCD’s extensive global reach, these facilities offer valuable support to customers seeking to bring innovative products to market more quickly and effectively.
Highlights of the new Life Science Laboratory hub:
- Food & Nutrition laboratory: Focusing on applications in dairy, bakery and savoury foods, this centre offers customised product development, including the creation of ready-to-eat samples and ready-to-use formulation kits. It supports customer engagement through technical training, collaborative product development with research and development teams, and industry-focused events. The centre also provides on-site technical support to ensure optimal performance in customers’ production environments throughout China.
- Pharmaceuticals laboratory: Serving the wider North Asia region, this centre provides advanced capabilities such as reverse-engineering, troubleshooting, formulation development, and comparative analysis. It supports various dosage forms including solid, liquid and semi-solid preparations, and offers both internal and external technical training. Specialised services include rheological measurements of colloidal suspensions and detailed chemical analysis.
- Beauty & Personal Care laboratory: Covering the entirety of China for formulation development and the broader Asia-Pacific region for efficacy testing, this centre supports segments such as skincare, sun care, hair care, toiletries, and colour cosmetics. Facilities include specialised instruments for efficacy testing, including systems for measuring sun protection factors and advanced skin diagnostics.
The centre also includes a Beauty Studio, a dedicated space where IMCD experts collaborate with beauty brands, using cutting-edge, trend-driven and ready-to-use chassis, active ingredients, functional agents, and sensory modifiers, to develop innovative, tailor-made, and market-ready formulation prototypes, as well as a hair salon to support testing and demonstration of hair care solutions under real-use conditions.
“The new Life Science Laboratory hub represents an exciting step forward for IMCD in China,” said Nicky Huang, Managing Director for IMCD China. “It demonstrates our long-term investment in building local capabilities, strengthening our ability to serve customers with scientific expertise and market knowledge. By integrating advanced technical facilities with a customer-focused approach, we are creating meaningful opportunities for growth and innovation.”
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