Bayer AG, the German drugs and chemicals maker, expects to be China's biggest drug seller "in the next few months," spurred by treatments for diabetes and blood pressure, the head of the company's Asia unit said.
Sales in China grew 47 percent last year and made up about one-third of the company's US$1.3 billion of revenue in the Asia-Pacific region, which excludes Japan, Chris Lee, regional head of Bayer Schering Pharma Asia- Pacific, said yesterday.
Lee said he expects revenue from Asia-Pacific to contribute more than 10 percent of Bayer Schering's sales "within the next few years."
Revenue in the region increased 26 percent, slower than Europe, North America and the combined region of Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, Bloomberg News said.
Sales will rise in a "high double-digit" range in a few years, he said. Sales of Glucobay for diabetes grew 13 percent to US$159.47 million in Asia-Pacific.