BIOPHARMACEUTICAL company Bristol-Myers Squibb yesterday said it expected to double its China sales to 27 percent this year on strong demand for its key hepatitis and diabetes products.



Last year, BMS's sales in China grew 13 percent year on year – higher than its global growth pace of 9 percent.

"We plan to introduce at least two new prescription drugs to the Chinese market this year and focus on getting more new innovative products registered in China," Jean-Christophe Pointeau, president of BMS China (Investment) Co Ltd, said in an interview yesterday.

By 2016, the company is expected to launch another three new drugs in the Chinese market to grab a bigger market share.

The company estimated sales from innovative drugs to make up about 90 percent of its sales in China within six years compared with 40 percent in 2011.

Pointeau said BMS China is accelerating its transformation into a biopharmaceutical company that specializes in four disease areas, namely hepatitis, cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

Since divesting its non-pharmaceutical business units in 2007, BMS has been concentrating on innovative bio-pharmaceutical operations. It pours 20 percent of its sales each year into research and development initiatives.

Pointeau also aims for BMS China to become the pharmaceutical company's top 5 regional market in terms of sales within three years, raising it from the eighth largest market.

The United States-based biopharmaceutical company has tied up with local pharmaceutical companies such as Simcere Pharmaceutical Group and Wuxi Apptec to co-develop compounds that have the potential to be turned into new drugs.