Today, we take a look at large, multi-national pharmaceutical companies. Annie Fu finds out why they have come to China, and what that means for the industry.
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China is on the minds and lips of the CEO's of the large
multi-national pharmaceutical companies, commonly referred
to as Big Pharma. |
Tune in tomorrow for the next segment in our BizChina 360 series about the pharmaceutical industry in China. We see how an improved regulatory environment, coupled with a burgeoning Chinese pharmaceutical industry, are bringing innovation to China.
"A commitment to China."
"That's exactly what the Chinese are doing."
"China should become one of the seventh top markets in the world."
China is on the minds and lips of the CEO's of the large multi-national pharmaceutical companies, commonly referred to as Big Pharma. They are enthusiastic about China, for good reason.
Daniel Vasella, CEO & Chairman of Novartis said "The Chinese pharma market also has been growing year after year. It has had a low base, obviously, but grown double digit. And it is expected that by 2010, we will have a market of 25 billion US dollars. So it's then a substantial market."
Substantial, indeed. Some reports predict it will be the second largest market by 2020, surpassed only by the United States.
The story of big pharma--Roche, Novartis, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline--coming to China is probably not news to anyone. What is news, though, is how their relationship with China is evolving.
Liu Yuwen, General Manager of Biobay said "And for the multi-national companies, they have come to China for years. They have established sales force, they have established manufacturing facilities, which has been expanded due to market demands. But now, almost everybody come to China to set up their R&D centers. New drug discovery clinical study base, and also process development facilities. So this is the trend we have seen."
R&D--research and development. These are the hearts and souls of pharmaceutical companies. That's the real story about big pharma in China.