The pharmaceuticals sector has not emerged unscathed from last year’s anti-trust investigations of multinational companies in China, but with healthcare spending rising, there are plenty of opportunities for the industry. The powerful National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), which investigates alleged price fixing in China, claimed that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) charged Chinese consumers seven times its average global prices. Such crackdowns look set to become the norm and have refocused minds on the potential for sales in China, where the government plans to increase pharma spending by 18% a year between 2014 and 2018.
The value segment doesn’t have low requirements, rather different requirements
Big Pharma, meanwhile, is finding ways to drive sales at the burgeoning mass end of the market. For example, providing training and education to medical staff in diseases and disease management is proving a key way for Pfizer to build market share for cheaper medicines. ‘The value segment doesn’t have low requirements, rather different requirements,’ said Shao Xianghong, Head of Business Development and Director of Generics and Biosimilar Business Strategy and Business Development at Pfizer China. ‘You have to ask yourself: “How am I going to help doctors in lower-end hospitals?”’
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