BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - ShangPharma Corp, a pharmaceutical and biotechnology R&D outsourcing company, said US private equity firm TPG has invested over 30 mln usd in the company.

The investment was made through TPG's Growth Fund and Biotech Fund, ShangPharma said in a statement.

Wang Sing, managing director of the TPG Growth Fund, and Geoff Duyk, managing director of the TPG Biotech Fund, have joined ShangPharma's board of directors, the company said.

Shanghai-based ShangPharma's customers are mostly international pharmaceutical, biotech, agrochemical and chemical companies.

'This strategic alliance will be instrumental for the group's business expansion beyond chemistry outsourcing and in providing more integrated drug discovery and early development services,' ShangPharma's chief executive Michael Hui said.

'In addition to increasing our potential for entering the highly lucrative internal drug discovery and development program, this powerful competitive platform puts us in a strong position to broaden our offerings along the entire pharmaceutical value chain,' Hui added.

ShangPharma said the alliance will also help it explore acquisitions and expand its customer base in the US, Europe and Japan.